Outcast
by SapphireIceheartt
Summary: A human girl with no name and apparently no memory of her life washes up onto a Barrens beach with the remains of a ship. Volugg, an elderly orc shaman, discovers the girl and decides to help her. But something is off about her. There is a darkness inside of her. Not part of the Frozen series but uses some of the same characters
1. Chapter 1

When Volugg woke up that morning, he never gave a thought on how his day might change him. A storm had swept in during the night, but that rarely bothered the old orc. Storms damaged his small hut now and then, but Volugg was a shaman and understood the balance of nature. One of his sparse trees might fall over and crash into his bedroom, but if that happened Volugg accepted that. He was old. Dying is a natural part of life. Volugg did not fear death, and he did not fear any storm. It was merely wind, water, and occasionally fire in the form of lightning.

But every time a storm came in, he would ask the elements to protect him. Not for himself, but for his equally aged wolf. Mudfur had always been a loyal companion. As the years went by, Mudfur lost teeth and agility. Every time Mudfur stood up, Volugg could hear all of her joints protest. She could no longer hunt like she used to. Without Volugg, Mudfur would probably starve to death, and that was not how Volugg wanted her to die. Normally orcs would take their aging wolves hunting or in war so the wolf could die fighting honorably. Volugg preferred Mudfur to die peacefully in her sleep. Her soul was gentle, even if in her youth she could rip an ogre's throat out with ease. Neither she nor Volugg were fighters.

So Volugg prayed that the elements would take pity on Mudfur and keep Volugg safe. But lately, the elements had been acting erratically. Volugg could not get them to answer him, and the few times they did, they seemed agitated. Friends visited Volugg sometimes, and recently they had been telling him of natural disasters and unrest. Earthquakes, fires, floods, and of course storms. Volugg lived to the north of Ratchet, right on the coast and he experienced it first hand how the storms were increasing in severity.

The morning after the worst storm he had experienced, he could tell it had been truly fierce as he limped outside. His hut remained intact thankfully. A tree had fallen near his pig pen, but it had missed the fencing. The pigs themselves enjoyed the mud caused by the heavy rain. The door of the smokehouse lay several yards away from the building, ripped from its hinges.

Volugg sighed, then called out for his companion. She had gotten up early, leaving Volugg alone in the hug.

"Mudfur! Breakfast time!"

Several minutes past before Mudfur slowly shambled over the hill from the north.

The orc smiled. "Good morning! Don't rush yourself now."

Mudfur slowly went over to the smokehouse and picked up the broken door to drag it closer to the smokehouse. She dropped the door once it was close enough, then rushed toward her old friend in an enthusiastic burst of energy. Volugg took the time to rub the wolf's head affectionately, then returned inside the hut. Mudfur followed him.

To save time and effort, Volugg ate the same as Mudfur. Thick porridge with finely shredded pork mixed in was the staple of their diet. Two scraggly banana trees provided a sweet treat now and then. If Volugg ever desired anything different, he would take a trip down to Ratchet to drink and sell anything that washed up on his beach. The waves would bring all sorts of things, especially after a storm. Driftwood, old netting, and sometimes odd things like boxes of silk or barrels of salt pork. It was a simple life, but Volugg was thankful for it.

After Volugg set down a bowl for Mudfur, he scooped up food for himself and sat on the hides that covered his floor. Mudfur gulped down her food greedily while Volugg took his time.

"Did you find anything else useful on the beach, old girl?" Volugg asked through spoonfuls of breakfast. Mudfur grunted at him, shoving her face into her bowl. She took a second to look up at Volugg and whined.

Volugg gave her an offended look. "More salt? Lick the ocean then. You can cook from now on, then."

The wolf stared at him, then returned to her food, licking up clumps of oats and pork. After she was done, she plodded over to the fireplace and laid down in front of the fire. Volugg finished up his food, silently agreeing with his wolf that the porridge had needed more salt.

The orc rose to his feet, willfully ignoring the sounds of his joints popping. Before heading out, Volugg grabbed his driftwood staff as well as a knapsack. Mudfur growled as he departed but did not get up.

Volugg casually hiked down to his private stretch of beach. The beach was mostly peaceful, so Volugg never felt the need to bring any other weapon but his staff. No murlocs or makrura wandering about and only occasionally a shark showed up out in the deeper waters. Volugg could see a lot of broken bits of wood as well as rope, sailcloth, and what looked like some barrels. A ship had succumbed to the elements just off the coast. Volugg would pray to the ancestors for the poor sailors.

Nothing had washed ashore to identify what kind of ship it was. The barrels were unmarked. Any sails or flags had not washed up with this part of the vessel. It could have been Horde, Alliance, or even a pirate ship.

As Volugg carefully moved a barrel out of the surf, he heard a noise. After a moment of silence, the noise repeated. It was the moan of something living. Volugg frantically moved in the direction of the sound and as he pulled up a piece of a mast and found the survivor.

It was a human. Volugg believed it was a female, though he had never seen female humans up close. She looked small. Either it was a child or a very young adult, though strangely it had bleached white hair. A ruined fur cloak covered most of her body. Volugg gently moved her onto her back to see if she was injured. The dark robes she wore showed no evidence of blood. Volugg hoped her skin was usually that pale.

Luckily she weighed little. The old orc managed to pick her up without hurting his back. He would come back for the salvage later. The second Mudfur caught the scent of the human; she would be furious at Volugg. Worse still, Riverdream would be coming by that night for dinner. What will she say? Humans were the enemy.

As he shuffled back toward his hut, he considered why he was doing such a stupid thing. He had not even hesitated to help this enemy. Gentle is what many orcs had called him before. Soft. Spineless. He should have left the child die.

But he was gentle and soft perhaps, but spineless he was not. It took spine to help an enemy, especially a harmless one like this girl. She couldn't harm a wolf pup in her state.

There was no sign of Mudfur anywhere. That saved a confrontation between the wolf and him. The orc slowly stepped up to his hut, thinking along the way. He had only one cot in his tiny hut. He placed the girl on his bed temporarily and went off to pull down some fur pelts. Close to the fire pit would be a safe place to keep the girl. He started a small fire before returning to the human. The girl did not wake up. He hoped she would remain unconscious for a while longer. He did not wish to hear her screaming in fear of the big scary orc.

As he transferred her from the cot to the makeshift fur bed, Mudfur returned. She entered the hut growling.

Volugg stood up slowly; hands held up. "I know what you are going to say. I'm an idiot. But this human could have died out there."

Mudfur snapped her remaining teeth at him and approached the girl. Volugg did nothing to stop her. The wolf sniffed the girl for several minutes, then glanced over at Volugg. She made a frustrated huffing sound. Then the wolf laid down next to the girl and licked her pale face.

Volugg let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you would act a lot worse! You've grown as soft as I am."

The shaman then knelt down to tend to the human child. He quickly took off the wet clothes and examined her body quickly for wounds. There were bruises all over her body, no doubt from being hit with debris from the ship. On her chest near her heart was a horrific looking scar but it seemed healed, so Volugg did not worry about it. He placed a hand on the girl's forehead to check for a fever. Unfortunately, Volugg was not sure if humans had a different body temperature than orcs. He rose up, bones creaking. Mudfur watched silently as he collected his herbal remedies, only again to realize he didn't know which herbs would be beneficial to a human. What if basic herbs to orc health was poisonous to humans?

Volugg agonized over a decision but did not want to risk killing the child. He would wait for his friend Riverdream to come by his house that night. She was more knowledgeable about herbs than even him.

If the girl died before then, Volugg would blame himself, but he would blame himself if he accidentally poisoned her. He would wait and ask the spirits to watch over the girl.

* * *

 _She lay under the cloak of darkness. There was nothing and no one around to help her. He was dead. Everyone she knew was dead. Gone. The sense of loss and ultimate loneliness threatened to overwhelm her. It was too much to handle. Her whole life consisted of darkness, suffering, and death. Alone with nothing around her, she wanted to die as well._

 _But Death would not come. It was close, but it had retreated from her. She did not seem likely to die any time soon. Did she deserve to live? When stowed away on that merchant's ship, the deadly storm had seemed like mercy. The water had rushed into the dark hold beneath where she had been hiding. Instinctively, her body had tried to survive, but in her mind, she had resigned herself to death._

 _Death would not come. She remembered holding onto a piece of wood and washing up onto land. After that, someone had come and carried her away from death. That someone placed her in a warm, dry place. Death could not claim her now, though it would not surrender easily._

 _ **Come back.** The Voice seemed familiar but strange at the same time. It was not the same person._

 _Deep inside of her chest, something twisted agonizingly. Even as her body warmed, her heart grew colder. It was if ice was encrusting it and slowly killing her. But it could not kill her._

 _ **Come back to me.** The Voice turned angry. She would not answer the Voice, and it did not like that. The pain around her heart worsened. The heartbeats stopped momentarily from the pain but persisted. If she were conscious, she would have screamed in agony. She instead answered._

 _ **Go away! Leave me alone.**_

 _The Voice went silent. The pain continued for what seemed like days, but eventually the ice around her heart melted with just a sliver of pain lingering. She was alone again in the darkness._


	2. Chapter 2

The girl started to wake up just as the sun began to set. Her whole body was sore. Her head throbbed, and her throat ached. She began to cough violently, and it took a while for the coughing to subside. Instead of sand underneath her, fur caressed her skin. Above her was fur as well. The fur smothered her in darkness, and sudden panic seized the girl. She clawed at the fur and managed to throw off the furs. As fresh air rushed over her, the girl realized she was naked. She quickly wrapped one of the fur skins around her body as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the light of the fire.

A fire crackled next to the pile of furs. It burned brightly, logs piled high. A pot hung over the fire, with the smell of cooking food filling the room. The room itself was sparse. In one corner, a low table and two stools seemed to serve as a sitting area. Near the only window was what appeared to serve as a small kitchen, with dried herbs hanging above and cooking utensils on a table. Through one door seemed to be an extra room and the other door to the outside.

Hesitantly, the girl stood up to look into the pot. It held some stew with chunks of meat in it. Hunger gnawed at the girl, and she looked around for a bowl. She could not remember the last time she had eaten anything. Before she could walk over to the small kitchen area, voices approached from the one door leading outside. Frightened, the girl instantly backed away from the fire and laid back onto the pile of furs.

The door opened, and an orc walked into the hut, followed by a gigantic wolf. The orc's arm looked thicker than the human's whole body. His tusks were broken but still looked intimidating. The girl gasped, just wanting to run out of the hut. Before she could though, she noticed his limp and then noticed other things. He had to walk with a cane, and his hair looked pale in the firelight. He was old, and his presence no longer seemed as intimidating as before. The orc did not even look at the girl, limping over to the kitchen area. However, the wolf stared at the girl. It let out a growl. The orc turned around.

"You are awake. That's really good. My name is Volugg. Hungry?" He asked calmly.

The human girl did not answer, taken aback by his demeanor. She sat there, unsure of what to do. Instead of asking her again, Volugg merely picked up two bowls and walked over to the fire. He took the pot off the hook to pour out a bowlful of stew. The girl watched him hold out the bowl toward her. She hesitated to take it.

Volugg frowned. "It's okay. I made it myself...or do you not eat meat?"

Next to him, the wolf growled at the girl again. The girl looked over at the wolf and finally took the bowl. She was so hungry that she did not even wait for the orc to make his stew. She just lifted the bowl and ate the stew like that. The orc did not seem bothered. In fact, he seemed amused.

"Thank you," The girl tried to say, but her voice cracked. Her dry throat led her to a fit of coughing. The wolf's ears perked up at the sound of coughing. Then it quickly trotted over to a barrel. It grabbed a wooden bowl with its mouth and ducked its head into the barrel. After it lifted its head, the dish was dripping wet. The wolf came over to the girl and offered the bowl, which was full of water. The human girl took the bowl and drank deeply.

The orc reached out and pat the wolf. "What a good girl, Mudfur! You have gotten soft in your old age."

Mudfur curled her mouth into disgust, snarling. She stomped a foot and left to sulk in a corner.

Volugg shrugged playfully and turned his attention to the human. "So, what is your name?"

The girl should have known he would eventually ask her that. It's the first thing anyone would ask her, but she had not thought this far ahead. Even thinking of her name caused painful memories to resurface. How could she possibly continue to go by such a cursed name? Before the orc could ask her again, she decided on a painless answer.

"I don't remember," She lied. Then, to seal the deception, she started to cry. It was a weak attempt at crying, but it seemed the orc could not handle that sort of thing. Volugg reached over and put his large hands on the girl's shoulder.

"No, no no! Don't cry, little one. I have heard that sometimes trauma can cause someone to forget themselves temporarily," He reassured her. He looked more distressed than the girl did. After she stopped crying, he let her go and gave her an uncomfortable look.

"I have a friend named Riverdream outside. Perhaps she can help you?"

The human nodded and Volugg limped over to the door. He called out for the person. As they waited for Riverdream, the girl wrapped herself in the furs and ate some more stew. She heard Volugg talking to someone just outside. The voices sounded concerned, most likely for the girl. It made her feel guilty for lying to Volugg, but she had no choice but to lie. Even now, the memory of blood and the Voice haunted her.

Riverdream entered the hut, and the girl stared without meaning to. When Volugg had mentioned his friend, the girl thought he meant another orc. But this was a tauren, taller than the human and even Volugg. She had smooth tan fur and short dark horns. But what comforted the human girl the most was the tauren's smile and kind eyes. She had never seen someone so kindly. The tauren approached the human slowly and carefully, seemingly not wanting to frighten her.

"Hello. My name is Riverdream. You are fortunate that you survived. I checked you a few hours ago, and no broken bones nor any serious injury. You do have a fever, but I am sure you will be fine. Volugg says you lost your memory?"

The girl nodded. She couldn't trust herself to voice the lie again. Not to this nice tauren. She remembered everything and wished with all her heart that she had lost her memory.

Riverdream smiled sadly and knelt down in front of the human. The tauren wrapped another skin of fur around the girl's small shoulders. "It's going to be okay. Your memory will slowly return."

The girl nodded, soothed by the tauren's gentle voice. Volugg stood back a few feet, looking awkward. Riverdream looked back and smirked.

"Volugg...It seems this girl needs a name. We can't just called her 'human girl' now, can we?" She teased.

The orc gave a halfhearted nod and seemed less uncomfortable with everything. He approached the girl and gave her a thoughtful look.

"I am not creative with names. I named Mudfur because her fur is the color of mud. Your hair is white like snow," He said hesitantly.

Riverdream clapped her hands, causing the girl to jump. Even Mudfur looked up in surprise.

The tauren gave them all an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I just think Volugg doesn't give himself enough credit. Snowfur is a wonderful name. But of course, child, it is your choice. We can think of another name if you like."

The girl thought about it. Her real name started with the same letter but the new name seemed simple and clean. Snowfur seemed like a new start for her. The girl raised her head to look Riverdream and Volugg in the eyes.

Snowfur smiled. "I like that name."

After Riverdream gave Snowfur some healing herbs to apply to her bruises, she had to leave. The tauren had only been visiting and had to return home to a place called Mulgore. She stayed long enough to give some instructions to Volugg on how to care for Snowfur. Riverdream was a mother of three and knew more about taking care of children than Volugg did. The tauren also commanded Snowfur to not exert herself too much for a few days. Drinking plenty of water and listening to Volugg were strong suggestions.

Volugg did not seem happy about Riverdream leaving so soon. He kept trying to convince her to take Snowfur with her to Mulgore, but Riverdream refused.

"Snowfur is too weak to travel. Besides, I would prefer to speak to my husband first before showing up at the door with a stray human. How about I suggest both of you, and Mudfur of course, come to stay with us?"

The orc glared at her. "You know I don't like being around others."

During this entire exchange, Snowfur listened by her bed next to the fire. She had tried once to get up to help Volugg put more wood on the fire, but Riverdream had given her a stern look. That stopped any ideas of helping, so Snowfur resigned herself to lying down on the fur. She now wore a brand new set of robes of rough, brown cloth. Volugg had tried to give Snowfur her old clothes, but the girl had refused to wear those again. Luckily the orc asked no questions. He was awkward at talking to people it seemed, but Riverdream had hope for him.

"You are so grouchy, old man. Living on this rugged coast has made you moody. Mulgore is calm and would do wonders for your health."

Volugg grunted but did not deny anything. Riverdream merely shook her head and changed her attention to the human girl sitting next to the fire.

"Don't worry. I will be back. You focus on getting better. Don't stress too much about your memory, little one."

Snowfur promised not to worry, and the tauren hugged her before leaving the hut. Volugg followed her out, and the two seemed to talk some more. A yawn came from the corner of the room. Snowfur looked toward Mudfur. The wolf sniffed in the girl's direction. Snowfur held up her bowl.

"I can't eat anymore. Do you want it?" She asked quietly.

The wolf got to her feet and lumbered over to Snowfur. A large black nose touched the edge of the bowl. Mudfur opened her mouth, exposing empty gums and a few old yellow teeth. She licked up the leftover stew with a giant pink tongue.

Volugg entered the hut, frowning deeply. Something that Riverdream said seemed to trouble him. He, however, caught Snowfur's glance, and the frown disappeared. He gave the girl an awkward smile.

"I am not much of a people person. I don't know how River even tolerates me," He said sheepishly.

The girl smiled at the orc weakly. "You seem nice to me."

Volugg gave her a long hard look and then smiled back. He limped over to the water barrel and scooped out some more water.

"Here. Riverdream said to make sure you drink plenty of water," He said, holding out the bowl of water. Snowfur took it, and after she drank some, she put it next to her. Mudfur snorted and leaned forward to lick up some of the water. Snowfur looked at the wolf in disgust. Volugg merely laughed and limped over to the door that led to his bedroom. He stopped before entering and looked back.

"Oh. If you need anything tonight, don't hesitate to come wake me. Water is in that barrel. Do you need to...relieve yourself?"

Snowfur gave him a confused look. "Do what?"

Mudfur growled at Volugg, and the orc scowled at the wolf. "I didn't say that because it's vulgar."

"Oh! That...yes I do," Snowfur said sheepishly, face burning as she realized what he meant.

Volugg told her where the outhouse was and let her go out with Mudfur following. The night was fast approaching and already the sounds of the night were present. Bugs buzzed at high pitches all around. In the distance, waves crashed onto the beach. The wind rushed by and the smell of salt carried with it from the ocean. The color of the sky matched Snowfur's bruises.

Dry grass rose to knee length around the house, with a well-worn path leading to the outhouse. Snowfur followed Mudfur as the wolf trotted toward the small building. The wolf even opened the door to it with her mouth.

After Snowfur finished, Mudfur took her back into the hut. The wolf entered the hut, but Snowfur stopped before the door. She looked out toward the ocean. Suddenly the bugs quieted. The air felt wrong. It still smelled of salt, but it felt different somehow. A gale of wind rushed by, but it was cold with the smell of blood filling Snowfur's nostrils.

Snowfur quickly retreated into the hut, shaken. Her breathing turned shallow, and her hands started to shake. The urge to vomit up the stew from earlier rose up inside her, but she leaned against the wall and tried to keep her stomach contents inside her stomach. Luckily the old orc had already retired in his room, so he didn't see her reaction and question her. Mudfur didn't notice, already laying down next to the fire with her head turned away. After she calmed herself down, Snowfur retired to the pile of furs that served as her bed. She drank from the bowl of water, even though Mudfur had drunk from it previously. It tasted gross, but the girl didn't mind. She laid her head down on the fur and closed her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

"Wake up!"

The girl woke up suddenly, unclear of where she was. Then it came rushing back. The shipwreck, waking up in Volugg's hut, and the rest. Her name was Snowfur. She suddenly groaned as she slowly moved around in her bed of furs. After clumsily reaching about, she found the edge of a fur and pulled it over her face. The overwhelming scent of cooked pork filled her nostrils. A growl erupted from her stomach, but Snowfur ignored it.

"Another hour of sleep please," She moaned to the unseen orc.

It seemed that Volugg would not let her. He walked over and yanked the fur from over her. The light blinded her, and she whipped up a hand to cover her eyes. Unfortunately, Volugg did not stop there. He reached down and pulled her up into a sitting position. He then held out a plate of meat.

"I made you breakfast," He stated simply. Snowfur looked at it and tried not to frown. Large parts of the meat had been charred black. Knowing better than to complain, the girl took the plate and noticed no fork or knife. She opened her mouth to ask for utensils, but the orc already turned away, fixing a bowl of some porridge for himself.

Snowfur picked apart the meat with her fingers, avoiding the burnt pieces. Despite the overcooking, the pork tasted good. It took a considerable amount of restraint for her not to stuff it into her mouth. She was starving. It wasn't until the bone inside the meat showed up did she start feeling full. Despite that, she stripped all she could off the bone and ate it. Grease-covered her hands and she saw a scrap of cloth in the kitchen. She slowly stood up, her body still sore and bruised. After she wiped her hands off on the cloth, Snowfur looked back at Volugg. He had already finished eating before her and had taken it upon himself to rearrange Snowfur's bed in a more orderly fashion.

"You don't have to do that," Snowfur commented, coming over to fix up her bed herself. She had made it a mess, and she felt like she should clean it up.

The orc waved her off and finished fixing up her bed without a word. Volugg then smiled at the girl.

"For now you should take it easy. But don't worry. I will make you work soon enough," Volugg said reaching out to pat her on the shoulder.

Despite his promise of letting her take it easy, Volugg did escort her around his home to help her familiarize herself with the surroundings. He showed her the pig pen. Volugg raised them for meat. The orc showed her where he kept their feed and where he slaughtered them. Then when he saw her looking at the half a dozen piglets suckling from their mother, he went over to them and picked up one of the piglets.

"Don't get attached. This baby will become dinner when it gets better," He said sternly to her. Despite that, when Snowfur took the piglet from her, she couldn't help but fall in love with it. She thought it was incredibly ugly. Its head looked too big for its body, and the snout looked weird. But the eyes were bright and large, and it made cute little snorting noises as it smelled Snowfur.

Volugg could see the look on the girl's face and quickly took the piglet away from her.

"Okay, that's enough."

He led Snowfur to the beach, where he had found her. At first, she gazed out at the ocean with fear in her eyes. The sound of the waves brought up memories of the crashing against the ship and the sudden cracking of the wood. Waves crashing against the sand reminded Snowfur of the water rushing in and the cries of the sailors above.

Volugg did not notice her fear or her hesitation. He strode out onto the beach without a second glance. Snowfur took a few deep breaths and followed him. The sand slid under her bare feet as she walked out onto it. Closer to the waves the sand was packed down by the waves but farther up the beach where Snowfur walked the sand shifted with every step. Snowfur fell twice before figuring out how to walk on the treacherous terrain.

The two found Mudfur basking in the early morning sun. When she saw the orc and human approach her, she stood up and shook all the sand off her fur.

"Morning Mudfur. Did you find anything useful today?" Volugg asked.

The wolf chuffed at him. She trotted off, occasionally looking back at Volugg to make sure he stayed where he was. She went over a rise of sand and disappeared momentarily. A minute passed before the brown fur of the wolf appeared again. She dragged a large swath of sailcloth with her mouth. To Snowfur, the wolf seemed very pleased at her find. When she reached Volugg, Mudfur dropped the cloth to the ground and licked Volugg's face. Then she went over to Snowfur and sniffed the girl.

Obviously Snowfur smelled okay to the wolf because she licked the girl's neck. Volugg started to fold the sailcloth but instead of doing it himself, he gestured for Snowfur to help him. She brushed off a lot of the sand and lifted up one edge of the sailcloth. Both orc and human managed to fold up all the sailcloth into a manageable size for carrying. Volugg carried it himself.

"Why do you need this cloth?" Snowfur asked as the two walked along the waves, looking for more things.

Volugg did not look at her but instead at the waves. "I collect stuff to sell in town or use for myself. Cloth like this can be good for clothes or bandages. Driftwood I can always use for firewood. Ah! Look! A bottle. Perfect for holding water."

He pointed to a dark brown bottle lying in the surf. Snowfur rushed forth to grab it. As she did so, she saw something else in the water. A weird round flat thing. It looked almost like a large pale coin. Snowfur picked it up.

"Hey...What's this?" She turned around and held up the object.

Volugg's eyes brightened and he eagerly gestured her to hand it over. "That's a scallop. Here, I'll open it for you."

The orc took the scallop and pulled out a small knife. He stuck the knife into the side of the scallop. He twisted the knife inside and there was a cracking sound. He pulled the thing open while Snowfur watched him wide eyed. It was like a small treasure chest in her mind but the inside looked gross. Volugg pulled out a soft mass from it and picked off bits of things off of it. He then bent down to put a bit of the soft stuff into the water, washing it off. He then put the thing in Snowfur's hand.

"Here, eat it while it's fresh. It's good."

Snowfur sniffed the round thing in her hand and then put it into her mouth, chewing it. It was chew and tasted salty, but there was an underlying sweetness that she liked.

"Like it?" Volugg asked. Snowfur nodded. He held out the hard pieces of the scallop that he'd opened. He explained that the round coinlike pieces were the shell of the scallop. The shells kept the meat and body of the scallop safe from predators, though it did not help them from people.

Snowfur instinctively looked into the water around her for more scallops. Volugg laughed.

"You can look for them everyday if you want. I'm not opening them all for you, though. You saw what I did. I see another bottle down that way. Go get it before it floats away."

The orc pointed to the south. Snowfur scanned the area before seeing it. She went after it, running a short distance before becoming short of breath and then fast walking it to catch it in the water. She turned around and held it up for Volugg to see.

After that, they left back for the hut. Volugg did not want Snowfur to overexert herself. The second she entered the hut, Snowfur went over to her bed and collapsed into the furs. Volugg put both the sailcloth and the bottle away and started cooking up some porridge.

Snowfur had kept the scallop shell and had cleaned it with some sea water so there wasn't a speck of sand. She liked the ridged edges of the seashell and ran her fingers over it occasionally.

* * *

As Snowfur admired the shell, Volugg took stock of his new salvage. Plenty of sailcloth, driftwood, some bottle and one human girl. The sailcloth would go for a lot of money. Volugg would use the driftwood for himself since wood was hard to come by in the Barrens. Three trees grew near Volugg's hut, but he refused to cut those down. Two provided shade for his pigs and the other Mudfur would occasionally nap underneath. The bottles he would use for himself, and as for the human girl, he technically could sell her, but that would be wrong. Besides, she was skinny and pale. Not worth much.

Volugg glanced over at the girl. She wore the oversized robes Riverdream had given her, which made her look even skinnier than without it. The next day Volugg planned to take her to Ratchet. After he sold the sailcloth, he would buy her some new clothes. Perhaps he might find something other than porridge and pork to feed her as well. Did humans eat fish? Snowfur ate the scallop without issue, but she could not remember anything about her life.

Now he worried that perhaps ocean food was toxic to humans. He would need to watch her for illness. Taking care of a human child was more laborious than Volugg thought. Whoever looked after her before Volugg did not do a very good job. Who were her parents? Had they been on that ship? Were they merchants or pirates or simple travelers? Volugg knew of such things like nobility and peasantry. Was she the daughter of nobles or peasants? Not that it mattered to Volugg much about her status in human society. To him, she was a person. Like a pale, tuskless orc.

But if she was going to stay with him, he felt obligated to make her useful. He doubted she was warrior material. Even after she puts enough weight on, she would be small compared to a female orc. She could be a hunter. Or even a shaman. Even though the elements were acting very erratic and disconcerted, they had saved Snowfur from death. It could have been sheer luck, or it could be a sign.

Before Riverdream had left, she spoke of darkness inside the girl. The druid could not explain what it was or why Snowfur had this darkness inside her. Riverdream shared her concerns, and although Volugg felt no such thing from her, he trusted the druid.

For now, he would watch Snowfur. She seemed like an uncertain but curious young child. Whenever she looked at him, she showed no fear. Even now, she caught him looking at her and smiled at him.

"Tomorrow can I look for more scale its?" She asked.

He frowned in confusion for a moment, then realized what she meant. He replied, "You mean scallops. I want to take you to Ratchet if you feel up to it but after we get back, then you can search for more. There are also things called clams and oysters too."

Snowfur's eyes brightened with glee. "What's in Ratchet?"

He gladly explained the small port city. Ratchet was a neutral city so they might come across other humans. Volugg did not say so, but he hoped a human might recognize her and take her back home. Volugg was not known for his brilliant parenting skills. He liked children enough but only for about an hour or so. They run around too much and make too many loud noises.

Snowfur did not seem like other children though. She listened quietly and eagerly as he told her about the different kinds of shops in Ratchet. She seemed excited to see new people, especially the goblins that made up the majority of the population. As well as the wyverns at the flight master's post. She had never seen a wyvern before besides in drawings, or at least could not remember seeing a real one. The comment about seeing them in pictures made Volugg suspicious. She remembered seeing wyverns in a drawing but could not remember her parents, her childhood, or even why she was on a ship in the first place.

Perhaps she remembered more than she cared to admit.


	4. Chapter 4

Since Snowfur had been feeling much better the next morning, Volugg made her saddle Mudfur. When he brought out the saddle, and Snowfur saw how many straps were involved, she knew why he was making her do it.

The saddle weighed more than she did but somehow Snowfur managed to put it on the patient wolf's back. Mudfur stood like a statue, only occasionally huffing when Sapphire pulled a strap too tightly or accidentally stepped on the wolf's massive paw. Volugg did not give her any direction, and it took her perhaps an hour to get it right. The old orc merely sat in front of the house, watching her.

Only after she finally thought the saddle seemed correct did Volugg slowly get up and walk over to check. Even in the early morning, it was hot. Snowfur felt drenched in all of her sweat from all the work.

Volugg checked a few straps and grunted, "Hmm. It'll do."

Snowfur pouted. She thought he might say something positive or at least thank her. But no, he loaded the saddlebags without another word and hoisted himself up onto the wolf. Snowfur tried to climb behind him on the saddle, but Volugg stopped her.

"No. You sit in front of me. If you can't even saddle a wolf, you probably don't know how to ride one. If you fall off, you are walking the rest of the way. I don't care if you washed up on the shore a couple of days ago."

The girl did not want to argue so she merely grabbed the saddle and attempted to pull herself up. She grunted, but she barely got her feet on the ground. Volugg watched her with one brow raised. Then he sighed and picked her up by the back of her robes. He placed her in front of him in the saddle and Mudfur happily trotted off before Snowfur could situate herself. She instantly grabbed a handful of fur, fearful.

Mudfur casually walked through knee-high stalks of grass. Her pace was steady if slow. It took a while, but eventually, they arrived in Ratchet. Volugg always planned to leave early whenever he went to Ratchet.

Ratchet was a medium-sized port town. Snowfur noticed that that the buildings showed no similar architecture to each other and one even looked like it was constructed from the remains of a ship. Palm trees lined the rough roads. The majority of the population was goblins, and Snowfur saw many of the short green people as Mudfur made her way through the city. Tauren, orcs, and trolls were also a common sight.

Three armored orcs on wolves passed by them, with one orc glancing at Snowfur in confusion. Snowfur could feel Volugg tense behind her. Fortunately, the orc turned away without a word. Volugg said a few words in Orc under his breath.

Volugg directed Mudfur up a hill past a few shops and stopped in front of one. The orc dismounted and held out his arms for Snowfur. She looked down at the ground, frowning.

"Uh...I'll stay up here," she said. Volugg glared at her.

"What, for the rest of your life? Just slide off. I will catch you. Or at least tend to your broken ankle if I don't."

Snowfur sighed and did as he said, putting both legs on one side of the saddle and letting go. She slipped off the saddle and into Volugg's waiting arms. He grunted at the sudden weight but put her down without incident. The orc took the folded sailcloth off of the saddle and handed it to Sapphire.

Volugg entered the shop with Snowfur following her. It was a clothing shop. Rolls of cloth leaned against the wall. In the back was a countertop with a blood elf woman standing there.

"Nara! I have some sailcloth for you," Volugg said amicably.

The blood elf looked up from a book she was reading. "You are always to the point, aren't you?"

She put the book down onto the counter and placed a strip of strip onto the pages to hold her place. Then Nara noticed Snowfur with the sailcloth in her arms. The blood elf smiled.

"And who is this little thing?" Nara asked, her voice softening. She approached Snowfur, who backed away a little in fear.

Volugg gave Snowfur a comforting look. The girl bit her lip.

"I am Snowfur," The girl said. Nara looked her up and down and scowled.

"I assume Volugg named you and gave you those ugly robes?"

Nara took Snowfur by the arm and took her into a back room. "This doesn't work. I'll deal with you later, Volugg!"

Snowfur looked at Volugg for help, but the orc pulled over a wooden box and sat down patiently. The blood elf took off Snowfur's robes while the young girl protested. She then went through a rack of already made clothing and tossed the girl a few pieces.

"Try those."

Snowfur tried on a few pieces, but the only one that closely fit her was a light green dress. The sleeves and skirt were both too long, but the blood elf did not find it a bother. Snowfur was measured extensively and Nara promised she would shorten them to fit Snowfur perfectly. Volugg had mentioned getting her a hooded cloak also, which Snowfur told Nara. The blood elf found a few cloaks to look at but when Snowfur reached out for a bright purple cloak, Nara stopped her.

"That purple and that green do not go together! Here, have this grey one. It's also too big, but I can fix it up as well. Put on those rags of yours, and I'll go deal with Volugg."

The blood elf went to talk to Volugg as Snowfur dressed. She bought the sailcloth from Volugg and told the orc that Snowfur's clothes would be ready in an hour. Volugg pocketed the money from the sailcloth. Snowfur found a floppy cloth hat and held it up to show Volugg. She wanted the hat to hide her unusual hair.

"Can I-" Snowfur started, but Volugg was beginning to leave the shop. The blood elf gave the hat a hateful look.

"You can have that for free. No one is gonna buy that ugly thing."

Snowfur pulled her hair up and put on the hat. She then followed Volugg out of the clothing shop. Mudfur slowly stood up from her resting spot, yawning. Rather than mount up, Volugg walked down the street, occasionally looking at some stalls along the way. They seemed to be heading to the docks, where Snowfur did not want to go. It reminded her of the ship she nearly died in.

The smell of salt and fish grew stronger as they made their way near the docks. Volugg stopped in a few more shops, leaving Snowfur outside each time with Mudfur. Each time Volugg brought out a new item he had bought. One place he brought some bowls. Another place he bought some dried herbs. He even bought some well used books. He took a long time in each shop. Snowfur could hear him conversing amicably with each shopkeep.

While he was in a weapons shop, Snowfur waiting on a barrel with Mudfur sleeping next to her. The girl watched all kinds of people pass. Occasionally people glanced at her, but none stopped to bother or even speak with her. A few goblins argued while walking down the street. Snowfur wondered what they were talking about but she didn't know the language they were conversing in. A well dressed blood elven man strode by with a cane in one hand. A dark hooded figure concerned her, but whoever or whatever they were kept walking without a glance toward her. The figure made its way toward the docks and was gone soon. While she watched all the traffic, she noticed an older tauren at a stall selling jars of something. She wanted to go over to look, but Volugg had sternly told her to not move from her spot next to Mudfur. But she could not resist. She wanted to know what the tauren was selling.

She went over to the stall without Mudfur noticing. The tauren was smaller than Riverdream and older. She smiled at the young girl's approach.

"Hello, young one. My name is Ankti. How are you this hot day?" The tauren asked.

The girl smiled at the friendly tauren. "My name is Snowfur. What are you selling?"

The tauren picked up a jar and held it out to the girl. Snowfur took it and looked at the golden substance.

"It's honey, from the plains of Mulgore."

Honey. She used to like honey. It had been a long time since she had tasted any. She attempted to ask the tauren how much it was for one jar, but she couldn't get the question out before she got in trouble.

"Snowfur!" Volugg called out. The girl quickly put the jar down and whipped around to face the upset orc. He came limping over to her as quickly as he could.

"I'm so sorry! Please don't be mad at me! I just left for a moment," She said, tears forming in her eyes. Her voice trembled. She expected him to hurt her or yell at her for disobeying. But the orc took one look at the tears and gave her a concerned look.

"Why would I be mad at you? You scared me. Don't run off again!" The orc snapped. Snowfur stared at him. He then looked over at the jars of honey and the friendly tauren. Snowfur thought he would scowl and refuse to buy any. But the orc smiled.

"Ah. I see," Volugg said.

The tauren smiled and gestured to the honey. "Your granddaughter is like me. She sees something she likes, and she couldn't help herself."

Volugg frowned and looked over at Snowfur. Then he nodded.

"Yes! My...granddaughter. How much for two?" The orc asked. Snowfur wanted to say that she wasn't his granddaughter but the orc quickly bought two jars and shoved them into the girl's arms. He pulled her away.

Snowfur gave him a confused look. "You...aren't mad?"

Volugg directed her over to Mudfur. He did not look angry, and his grip around her arm was firm but not painful. Before Snowfur could say anything, Volugg let go of her arm and instead picked her up easily. She yelped, but he didn't hurt her. The orc raised her up and put her on Mudfur's saddle.

Volugg pointed a finger forcefully at her and said only one word.

"Stay."

When Snowfur nodded, he took Mudfur's reins and went on his way. The orc went off to the docks, pulling Mudfur along. Snowfur obediently stayed in the saddle when he went to one more shop and a fruit stall. Snowfur looked down at all the different kinds of fruits. She had rarely seen fruit before, but she knew vaguely what they looked like. Volugg got several kinds of fruit. After he bought them, he went over to Snowfur. The orc pulled an orange out of the sack and started ripping off the skin with his thick fingers. She took the orange eagerly after he was done and ate a slice. It was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted in her life.

"Happy now?" He asked. Snowfur nodded, juice dripping down her chin and neck.

Volugg smirked despite himself. "I figured. You like sweet stuff. Most children do as far as I can tell. Now, do you want to see something else?"

Snowfur finished the orange as Volugg took her to a hill. There, the girl saw wyvern. She did not even hesitate to hop off Mudfur's back. She ran over to the flight master's hill. Several wyverns lounged on wooden posts. One of the winged feline creature's yawned sleepily and looked at her. Snowfur looked back at Volugg.

"You said you wanted to see one. I don't recommend petting any though."

The girl nodded and merely looked at them. Short bristly fur covered all but the leathery bat-like wings and the intimidating tail, which looked like a scorpion's. Snowfur was in love. She wished she could fly on the back of one.

One lifted its tawny head and growled at Mudfur. The wolf growled back. Volugg took that as a cue that they should leave. Snowfur went reluctantly. She let Volugg lift her back up onto Mudfur and they headed back to Nara's shop. Nara had finished up the clothes but she refused to let them go before Snowfur tried them on.

The girl tried on the dress and let Nara look her over a few times. The elf seemed to be satisfied with it and took away Snowfur's old robes.

"I'll burn these for you," Nara said. Volugg took a few packages that she had set aside for and they left. This was the last stop before heading home and Snowfur looked forward to going home.

Home. That word conjured up all kinds of feelings for Snowfur. Some happiness but mostly loneliness, despair, misery, and most of all fear. Volugg' hut was not her home. The hut was small but safe, warm, and welcoming.

"Snowfur! Come on, girl," Volugg called. The girl instantly ran after him.

* * *

On a hill in Ratchet stood the Broken Keel Tavern. It was frequented by all sorts of people from the locals to sailors to the odd adventurer or two. It was late in the afternoon before most people came to visit. In a few hours, the tavern would be filled with loud noise and drunken customers.

A tall hooded figure slowly made his way up the hill to the tavern. It had not been a good day. Again, the ship he had been waiting for had not shown up to port. For a week he had made his way down to the docks and spoken with the harbormaster. Each time, the harbormaster told him there was no sign of the ship.

After each infuriating encounter with the harbormaster, the hooded man would make his way back up to the tavern. Not to drink but to brood angrily. He could drink if he wanted to but the result would be disappointing. Undead can't get intoxicated, not even deathknights.

"No luck then, Andrew?" The tavern's owner, Wiley, called out as he saw the deathknight enter.

Andrew would have preferred to head over to his usual table without being disturbed, but the goblin always wanted to take to him. He merely shook his head in response and went over to his table. There were a few beds for the occasional overnight guest, but Andrew did not sleep, so he merely took up the table in the darkest part of the tavern. His belongings lay scattered about the table top. If he cared to lie down, he would do so on the bench. The owner got paid well to let Andrew stay there, so he never complained about the occupied table.

Business was slow, so it seemed Wiley wanted someone to talk with. He followed Andrew over to the deathknight's table, looking concerned.

"The ship still hasn't shown up? I hope nothing bad happened. We've had tons of bad storms you know."

Andrew glared at the goblin, but Wiley could not see the human's expression because of the hood. The ship had left from Northrend shortly before Andrew could get to it. He had learned the name of the vessel and its destination, which was Ratchet and quickly chartered a flight on a zeppelin. He had arrived before the slow-moving merchant ship, which meant he had to wait. And now the ship was late.

So entrenched was the deathknight in his thoughts that he didn't hear what Wiley said next, and the goblin had to repeat himself.

"I said, perhaps your daughter left on another ship," The tavern owner suggested.

Andrew sighed, "The harbormaster described her perfectly and said she went onto the Silver Wave. Which was supposed to be here days ago!"

A few customers came walking in so Wiley had to leave the brooding deathknight. Andrew leaned his back against the cool stone wall, trying hard to not think about the last time he saw his daughter. The look of terror in her eyes. The blood dripping from the wound on her cheek. The hurt he had caused.

Afterward he had died or nearly died. The details were blurry. The pain was all he could remember with clarity. Agonizing pain. The horrors of what he had done weighed him down. He was a monster. He still is a monster. Nothing had changed.

He could not undo all the things he had done. But all he could think of was to find his daughter and make things right. This one thing he could fix. He had abandoned her and left her to fend for herself. She was naive and ignorant of the world. How she had survived for so long, he had no clue.

The deathknight pulled out a leather pouch from his belt. He undid the strings and opened it. Gently, Andrew pulled out a lock of white hair. It looked like his own.

"Sapphire, my daughter. Where are you?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay. Let's try again. Make sure you eye the target before you shoot. Know where you are going to aim before you even lift the bow."

Snowfur eyed the crude wooden target as he said. Five arrows were sticking out of it. Many more lay scattered around. The girl fumbled with the quiver but managed to grab the last shaft. She nocked it and then lifted the bow. Her arms trembled as she pulled back on the taut bowstring.

Volugg observed her. "Lift your elbow a tad more. That's it. Now shoot!"

Snowfur let go. The bowstring snapped against the leather wrapped around her arm, and the arrow flew toward the target. It scrapped the wooden side and hit the dirt. Snowfur's arms fell. She frowned.

The orc sat behind her underneath the shade of a tree. Snowfur unhappily went off to retrieve her arrows.

"At least you hit the target this time! You grazed it. That would hurt if it were a person," Volugg said encouragingly.

Snowfur glanced back at him. "No, it would only hurt me because if someone were running up to kill me I would miss like ten times and he would be on me."

The orc had to concede to that, but he wasn't going to give up. "Mudfur could rip his arm off, and you could finish him off."

Both girl and orc looked over at the old wolf. Mudfur lay on her side in the shade. Her tongue hung out, and occasionally she made a snoring sound deep in her throat.

Volugg stifled a smile, knowing that at this instance it would be hard to imagine how Mudfur used to be vicious in war. Nowadays, her legs were stiff with joint pain, most of her smaller teeth were gone, and her right eye was starting to lose focus, but she could still fight if she needed to.

The orc bought the bow for Snowfur when they went to Ratchet. She had no weapons, and Volugg knew she would have to eventually learn if she were going to survive. He knew more about axes and maces, but neither seemed a fit weapon for someone as small as Snowfur. So he bought her the well-used bow and a long iron dagger. The bow seemed too big for her, but she could grow into it.

Snowfur picked up the last arrow and started over again. For a week, Volugg had forced her to practice with it every day. The first few days were rough. She couldn't even manage to nock the bow the first day until Volugg noticed at lunch that she used her left hand more than her right. He had been showing her how to do it with her right hand. After that Volugg tried to teach her how to use her left hand and he saw instant improvement. She did not seem to see any improvement, and sometimes she became frustrated and started to cry.

Volugg would leave her alone, unable to comfort her. He had tried the first time, but that somehow made her cry even more. Children were out of his expertise, especially female children.

Today seemed a good day. Snowfur was disheartened by her misses, but at least she did not cry. Her second run she did even better. Seven arrows hit the target rather than five.

Volugg slowly got to his feet. "All right. That's enough for now. Go off and play."

Snowfur tried to run off and put her bow inside the hut, but Volugg stopped her. He held out a jar of foul-smelling salve After being out all day in Ratchet, Sapphire's pale skin had burned terribly. Volugg made her a salve that would heal the damaged skin and protect her from further sunburns. The sunburns were gone, but he still made her rub the oil on her

"Carry the bow with you. Dagger too just in case. See anyone or anything, scream. Keep rubbing that salve on your skin."

The girl nodded and instead ran off toward the beach, the quiver on her back bouncing up and down. Volugg turned to his wolf and lightly kicked her. The wolf snorted and opened her eyes.

"Mudfur! Get your lazy butt up. Go follow Snowfur."

The wolf huffed at him and slowly got up. She took one sniff and then followed the apparent tracks that the girl had made.

Snowfur stopped at the beach's edge to put the salve on her skin, rubbing it in thoroughly. She then ran straight toward the water, taking off her new belt and the quiver. She put both just a few feet out of reach of the waves and added her quiver to the pile.

Mudfur slowly approached, but by then Snowfur was already knee deep in the water. At first, the ocean had seemed scary to the girl. The horrific storm and the subsequent sinking of the ship had left an impression on her, but she had been through worse things. Her way of coping was to forget about it. All of it. It was easier to pretend it never happened.

 _Blood dripped from her fingers. Screams echoed all around her. Something large shuffled past the girl, and it let out a moan. The smell of decay invaded her nose. Bones snapped and then there was eerie silence._

Small fish swam over to Snowfur's legs. Snowfur tried to catch them but the second her fingers touched the water, the fish scattered.

Snowfur waded through the water, occasionally wincing if a large wave rushed onto her. Sometimes she found seashells. Most were broken but Snowfur did not care. She liked the pretty colors. But what she particularly enjoyed looking for was scallops. She had developed a taste for them. She always found one or two every day.

Mudfur decided to join the girl in the water, wading deeper into the water than the girl dared. Mudfur stood there quietly for a moment and then jabbed her head into the water. A lot of splashing occurred, and Mudfur's head whipped back out of the water, a large fish thrashing about in the wolf's mouth. The wolf ran to the shore and smacked the fish into the sand a few times. The fish started to weaken.

The girl came over to the wolf and looked at the fish. "Should we have that for dinner?"

Mudfur huffed and bit down harder on the fish.

Snowfur collected her things and left the beach to look for Volugg. He sat up against a tree. His head sagged to one side. The girl went over to check on him, worried. A quick look told her he still breathed. She gently shook the orc's shoulder.

The orc woke suddenly. "Eh? What's wrong?"

"Mudfur caught a fish. Should we make a stew out of it?"

Volugg nodded wearily. "Go start the fire and put a pot of water over it. I'll be there in a minute."

Snowfur did not move. Instead, she helped him up carefully. It took him a while to stand, but the girl was patient and let him use her body to balance himself. Once he was standing, only then did Snowfur go off to start the cook fire.

* * *

Andrew watched from a distance, safely hidden behind a few dried out bushes and the tall grass. Anger burned inside his cold body. It was clear to him that the ship had either wrecked or skipped its stop. It had taken a while, but Andrew had managed to learn about a pale-haired human girl from a seamstress. She had been reluctant to tell him, but Andrew knew how to be persuasive. Now Andrew had found Sapphire and saw that she was alive and well. Better than well in fact. She looked healthy, well fed and even happy. She smiled at the orc before entering the hut. Andrew had never seen her smile at him.

He should not be so jealous. What had Andrew ever done to deserve a smile from Sapphire? Nothing. But still, it hurt to see someone else treating his daughter better than he had done.

He was tempted to run in and drag her out, no matter how much she screamed and cried. But that was the old him. The monster that cared only about himself who treated Sapphire more like an object than as a person.

Unsure of what to do, the death knight returned to Ratchet. His daughter hated him. He needed some time to figure out how he might regain her trust. Perhaps he could approach the orc and explain things. But no doubt Sapphire had already told the orc all about Andrew. She needed no embellishment on her part to convey what a horrible, cruel person Andrew was.

He returned to his table, only to find that his companion had disobeyed him. An undead dog, just a few months old before it died, was chewing on Andrew's spare cloak. It had already caused a sizable hole in it.

"Rot!" Andrew snarled. The dog snapped its head up and saw the man. It instantly whimpered and curled up in a ball. The death knight picked the scrappy dog up and glared at it. Rot wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Bad dog!" Was all Andrew said before releasing the dog. He let it drop to the ground. The fall did not harm the undead puppy. It obediently went back to the backpack where Andrew kept it most days. He let it out occasionally but only when he could watch it. Rot was mischievous. If any mortal saw a rotting undead dog, they would toss him into the fire. Andrew would hate to let the dog die again. It was his only companion at the moment. Rot never liked obeying Andrew. The dog preferred its actual master, Sapphire.

If only she knew that Andrew had found the dog shortly after he had nearly died. Or died. He was not clear on what happened. There the paladin was, standing above him. Andrew's sword lay shattered around him. It seemed that true death had come at last. Darkness had overtaken him, but he did not remain dead for long. His body broken and unarmed, Andrew had crawled and limped his way out of the Citadel. Mortals still killed and looted the Citadel during that time but Andrew had kept out of sight. He knew the Citadel better than anyone.

Rot got bored of sitting there and tried to wander off. He managed to get two feet before suddenly he couldn't lift one of his paws and he fell over. Rot yipped in outrage. He looked at his feet to figure out what was wrong and saw that three of his paws were frozen in ice. The dog looked up at Andrew and growled.

"Stay. Good boy," Andrew said unhappily. Rot started chewing on his own foot but got bored and decided to take a nap. Soon the small dog was snoring. Andrew unfroze the dog and stuffed him back inside the backpack. Then he covered the bag with his now ruined spare cloak and tied it off so the dog couldn't get out. Now he could think without interruption.


	6. Chapter 6

One night, Snowfur left the hut and went toward the beach so she could sit in the sand and gaze up at the stars. As Volugg taught her, she did not go anywhere without her weapons. It was high tide, so the waves were closer than usual. Snowfur sat just out of reach of the waves. The two moons rose up into the sky, reflecting down on the vast ocean.

Snowfur looked up at the stars. They looked like small bright candle flames in the sky. For most of her life, she had never seen stars. She had barely seen the sky. The first time she had seen stars had been out in a forest. It had been the first time she had seen real trees too. It was all overwhelming. Now to see a tree seemed almost normal. Sometimes everything seemed like a dream. One day she might wake up in the nightmare again.

Her hands started shaking. Goosebumps rose up on her skin as it felt like the air turned icy. The stars above grew blurry as the world seemed to spin. Snowfur's chest tightened, causing her to breathe shallowly and painfully. Fear gripped her. As she was about to try crying out for Volugg, the girl heard a whimpering noise.

Everything stopped spinning. Snowfur could breathe normally again. Only her hands still shook, but she managed to grab her bow. She nocked an arrow and tried to figure the direction of where the noise had come. Near the beach, a patch of grass had been disturbed by something. Fear clung to Snowfur. Was it a predator that was trying to lure her closer? Was it a lion or one of the things that Volugg called a raptor?

Another whimper. It sounded sincere. Snowfur kept her bow up but decided to approach the grass. Her heart felt like it would explode at any second.

A small creature sat in the grass. Whatever it is, it had pale grey fur. The ears were rounded, and the head looked a tad misshapen. It almost appeared like a dog. It looked up at Snowfur, then made a weird noise at her. Large brown eyes gazed up at her with fear.

Snowfur lowered her bow and reached out with one hand. The creature snapped at her, but Snowfur was persistent. She knelt down into the grass and held out her hand. The animal glared at the outstretched hand for a few minutes. It then sniffed toward her. Eventually, it came over to her hand then pressed its nose against her hand. Snowfur expected it to bite her, but the animal did not harm it. It merely whimpered and looked back up at her.

The girl hung her bow back across her body and picked up the animal with both hands. It hissed angrily and squirmed in her arms, but Snowfur cradled it firmly in her arms. It's fur roughly brushed against the girl's arms. She could see and feel its ribs. It would be hungry.

Volugg was already retired into his room. He would most likely be asleep. Mudfur slept outside, snoring loudly. Snowfur quietly passed the wolf. The small dog thing luckily made no noise. It trembled in her arms as she passed the wolf.

As soon as she got inside, Snowfur looked at the animal for a better look. It did indeed look like a pale grey, awkward dog. The snout was more rounded and shorter in proportion than a dog would be. The ears were comically circular.

She set the animal down, and it gurgled curiously as it explored the new environment. It shambled near Snowfur's bed and plopped down onto the furs. Snowfur quietly opened a barrel of salt pork. The animal undoubtedly was hungry, so she thought it might like a snack. The second she pulled out a large piece of pork, and the animal saw what it was, it let out a terrifying cacophony of laughter and lunged at her.

Snowfur recoiled in surprise. The animal did not attack her but leaped to snatch the pork from her fingers. A loud sound came from the bedroom, and Volugg burst out wielding a massive battleax. Mudfur scrambled through the entranceway, snarling at the small creature. It squealed in terror and ran to hide behind the water barrel. Volugg sighed and lowered his battleax. Mudfur sniffed warily toward the water barrel. Quiet growls emanated from the wolf's throat.

"Why is there a baby hyena in our hut?" Volugg asked. Snowfur noticed he said "our hut" and not "my hut."

Snowfur went over to the water barrel and picked up the frightened animal. "I found him...He looked hungry and scared."

Volugg groaned and muttered something under his breath, but he did not yell at her or kill the hyena. Snowfur figured that was a good thing and smiled at the orc.

"Can I keep it?" She begged. There had been no signs of any parents of the hyena. Most likely it had been abandoned. She had no idea what a hyena was, but it was cute and small.

Mudfur growled again and huffed in Volugg's direction. The orc looked at the young hyena and then at Snowfur's pleading look. He sighed in resignation.

"Fine. Fine, fine! Keep it. But I'm not feeding it or cleaning up after it. That thing is your responsibility. Got it? And if it mauls you when it gets bigger because you didn't train it, that's your fault."

Snowfur put the hyena down and hugged Volugg. "Thank you! I'll take good care of it!"

Volugg peeled her arms off of him and then gestured over to the hyena. "There's your first job."

The hyena was squatting in the corner of the room, and a puddle was starting to form.

* * *

Watching Sapphire from afar was a painful experience for Andrew. He had found a well-hidden spot nearby the hut so he could keep tabs on his daughter. At that moment, she was frolicking with a hyena of all things! She looked happy. There was a smile on her face that hurt Andrew. It became too much to watch her and Andrew turned away to look at anything else but that.

Above, the sky was overcast with dark clouds. It signified that there was a storm coming. No raindrops fell, but it would only be a matter of time. Just more evidence of something being wrong. Reports flooded into Ratchet of massive earthquakes and fierce fires in both Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. The weather's unpredictability concerned many druids and shamans. Even Andrew felt unnerved by it all. The earthquakes, fires, and even this storm were not natural.

A distant laugh caught Andrew's attention once more. Sapphire lay sprawled onto the grass. The hyena batted at her with its oversized paws and licking her face. Despite his pain, Andrew smiled at the sight. If only he could make Sapphire laugh. Should he come out of hiding then, Sapphire's laughs would transform into screams of terror.

Sometimes Andrew tried to reassure himself that his cruelty had not been his fault. He sometimes thought he had not chosen to become a monster, but in a way he had. Andrew could have stopped at any time before he touched that sword. He could have never have gone to Northrend. He could have chosen to not kill all those people in Stratholme. The screams...

Andrew covered his face with his hands. It felt like a hammer was slamming down on his head. Everything turned to darkness. All Andrew could think about was everything he had done. Everyone he had killed. The crunch of breaking bones. The sound of a sword slicing through flesh and the sight of organs spilling down onto the ground. Men, women, and children dying. Abominations created from a mix of different bodies. Skeletal horrors cutting down innocents.

"Stub! Stub no come back!"

The man looked back at his daughter to see her chasing after the hyena. The orc and his wolf were nowhere to be seen. He hoped that Sapphire would catch the hyena, but the animal kept running straight into the hills and the plains beyond. Sapphire followed without hesitation.

Andrew leaped up from his hiding spot and ran after her. He had kept her locked up most of her life, and she knew nothing of the outside world. She would not understand that the plains would be full of predators larger and stronger than her. Lions, cheetahs, raptors and even other hyenas like her new pet. Worse, the Barrens belonged to the Horde. Not all orcs would be as open-minded as the one taking care of her.

The hyena kept running for who knows how long. How Sapphire kept up with it, Andrew didn't know. He could run forever and not get tired, but Sapphire's poor health would get the better of her.

Eventually, Sapphire tired. The hyena kept running and disappeared into the long grass. Her father slowed down to stay hidden. He held her in his sight every second.

"Stub! Stub come back!" Sapphire cried out forlornly. She looked around in Andrew's direction but did not see him. Finally, it seemed to dawn on her the predicament she was in. Alone in the Barrens with no weapon and utterly unsure of where to go.

It seemed like Andrew might have to reveal himself to help her before the hyena came rushing back in a panic. It was laughing loudly and twirling around in a nervous circle. Sapphire bent down to calm it, and that's when Andrew saw the lion crouching.

Andrew rushed out just as the lion pounced at Sapphire. The man shoved the girl aside, who screamed. The hyena chuckled even louder and scrambled to get away. The force from the lion's pounce knocked Andrew to the ground and pinned his sword underneath him.

The lion tore at Andrew and bit at him. The death knight felt no pain but could feel the pressure resulting from the feline gouging through his armor and into his skin. Andrew snarled at the animal and kicked it off of him then pounced onto it himself. It never crossed his mind to use magic to freeze the animal's blood or strangulate it. Rage clouded his thoughts. The animal swatted at him with its paws and Andrew felt it scratch his face. He grabbed at the animal's mane and pulled it into a headlock. It let out a savage roar, but Andrew did not hesitate. With great force, he twisted the animal's head until a loud pop, and the lion went limp.

Andrew let go of the lion and looked up at Sapphire. She stared at him in horror. Her breath started to grow ragged. He saw her hands shaking. Next, to her, the hyena whimpered.

"You...you. Dead," Sapphire rasped. Andrew slowly stood up.

"Sapphire, it's okay. I'm not going to-"

The girl collapsed to the ground. Andrew approached her limp body. Her heart still thudded inside of her chest, so Andrew assumed she had passed out. He could take her back before she woke and left. She could pass off the brief interaction as a nightmare or hallucination.

A few minutes of deliberation and Andrew felt like there was only one choice. Take her back to the orc's hut and reveal himself in full. Hiding any longer would be futile. He gently lifted his daughter's body and put her over his shoulder. Then he grabbed the dead lion by the mane and started off toward the hut, dragging the lion in the dirt. The hyena cried out and followed the man. Raindrops started to fall, and in the distance, thunder boomed.

"Snowfur! Where are you!"

Andrew looked and saw the elderly orc. He was searching around for Sapphire, using a wooden cane as support. Next to him, an old riding wolf sniffed the ground. She lifted her head and seeing the death knight, howled in alarm. Despite his injured leg, the orc whipped around and roared at the sight of Sapphire's limp body.

"What have you done to-" The orc suddenly noticed the dead lion in Andrew's grip.

The death knight dropped the lion and held his empty hand up. "I saved her from this lion. She passed out at the sight of me."

"Who are you and why did you save my Snowfur?" The orc snarled.

Andrew flinched. This elderly orc called her Snowfur and acted like she was his daughter. She did not belong to this him, but if given the option, Sapphire would pick any random stranger over her own father.

"I...I am her father. My name is Andrew Mithril," Andrew said sadly.

The wolf growled quietly, fur standing straight up. The orc merely snorted at him. "Then give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip your head off. Your daughter claims not to remember anything of her past, but I know better. She sucks at lying, and so do you! Andrew is not your name. And the scars on her back come from you, don't they?"

Andrew shamefully lowered his head in response to the accusation. He wanted to lie again but knew the orc would see through the ruse. The death knight sighed.

"Yes. I caused those scars. As for a good reason why you should not rip my head off? I have no good reasons. I should be dead."

Now the orc seemed to relax his muscles a tad and leaned even more heavily on his cane. Even the wolf seemed calm. The orc gestured to the hut. "Put her in there before the rain starts to come down harder. I'll bring in that lion. It's been a while since I've had lion steak."

Andrew quickly obeyed the orc, carrying Sapphire toward the hut while the orc dragged the dead lion. Both wolf and hyena rushed forward in a hurry to get out of the rain. As soon as he entered the hut, Andrew noticed a pile of furs with some seashells in a pile next to it. He placed his daughter into the furs and jumped back as the hyena pushed him aside to curl up against Sapphire.

"You never gave me your real name," The orc grunted as he pulled the lion into the hut.

Andrew turned around and smirked. "Well, I don't recall you giving me yours."

"Volugg. And watch your tone, boy. I'm not scared of death or undead such as you. Name?" Volugg snapped.

The death knight almost laughed at Volugg's attitude toward him. It had been so long since someone had spoken to him like that.

"My name is Arthas. Do you need help skinning that?"

Volugg suddenly grinned widely, showing off all his teeth. "I'm a cripple. You can skin it all by yourself while I tend to Snowfur."

The orc shuffled past Arthas and knelt down to Sapphire. Surprisingly he turned his back on the death knight. Perhaps because he was so old, Volugg did not care if he died from a vicious monster.

Arthas pulled out his knife. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the wolf lift her head. She watched him walk over to the lion and laid her head back down as he started to skin it.


	7. Chapter 7

I forgot to add in my summary that this is not the same as my Frozen Sapphire series. It uses some of the same characters but this is a new version.

* * *

Blue arcs of lightning crackled through the charcoal clouds with thunder roaring shortly after. Waves of dark water raged, slamming against the rocks and beaches on the land. Pigs cowered inside their crudely made shack which shook from the force of the winds. Water leaked through the thatched roof of Volugg's hut.

Each time a leak sprung, Volugg had some container for it. Mugs, bowls, and pots filled up with water. Each time they filled up, Volugg or Snowfur would empty them into the water barrel. Mudfur or Stub would lick up any puddles that started to form.

One particularly loud peal of thunder caused Volugg to flinch.

"This is not right." Snowfur heard him whisper.

Since she had regained consciousness, the orc seemed agitated and fidgety. At first, Snowfur thought his irritation was towards her. She had lied to him about her past. She tried to apologize, but he would not hear of it.

"You are not what I'm angry about. It's this storm. This storm is not natural. The elements ignore my pleas."

It was the storm that caused his behavior. He never explained much about what shamans did, and Snowfur never felt like asking. If he wanted to tell her, he would. All she could figure out was it involved the elements. Like fire, water, and dirt.

Despite his frustrations being directed at the storm, Snowfur still felt guilty for lying. She tried to apologize, but the orc would not hear of it.

"You should not feel bad at all for lying. I understand your reasoning. If I had been in your situation, I would have lied as well. Though I would have done a better job at it. Now eat and don't apologize again or I will throw you out to the storm," Volugg commented.

Snowfur proceeded into eating her stew in silence. The lion meat tasted richer than the pork Volugg always ate. It seemed funny to the girl to be eating something that had tried to eat her first.

Another bout of thunder rocked the hut. Sapphire winced, and the pulled the furs tighter around her body. She shivered, and it wasn't from the cold. Her fear stemmed not only from the raging storm outside but also from the creature sitting against the farthest wall.

He said nothing. He even refused to look at her. It seemed like a relief at first, but as Snowfur sat there, she wished he would just glance at her once. He saved her from the lion, but that meant nothing. He was a master at manipulation. Volugg seemed to fall for it but Snowfur would not. Worse still, Stub seemed to have taken a liking to the monster. As a courtesy Volugg had given the man some of the stew. Rather than pretend to eat it, Snowfur's father sat it down and pushed it toward Stub. The hyena cackled and gleefully shoved his face into the bowl. Snowfur seethed. Stub was her hyena.

Volugg could see the tension between the two and decided enough was enough.

"Snowfur...Could you come into my room for a minute?"

The girl nodded and followed the orc into the bedroom. The second Snowfur closed the door behind her; she started to cry. It had taken all her being to restrain from crying in front of her father. She did not want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her tears. Now that a door and wall stood between the two of them, Snowfur let it all out.

"Why did you let him in here? You should have left him out in the storm or let Mudfur rip his face off."

Volugg sat on the edge of his wooden bed. Her tears bothered him, but he did not try to comfort her.

"I doubt ripping his face off would help you."

Snowfur glared at him. "Yes, it would! He's a monster."

When Volugg scowled, Snowfur regretted her words. Humans normally considered orcs to be monsters and though she had offended him. But he merely shook his head and asked, "If he is a monster, then why did he save you?"

The girl almost replied with a sharp retort, but then she thought about it. Why had he done it? Why would he care if a lion mauled her? Doubts started to fill her mind. He surely did it to manipulate her. That had to be why he had done it. If he saved her, he thought she would feel grateful to him.

"I might seem like a nice person, but I have done horrible things," Volugg fell silent after that comment. Pain shone in his eyes and Snowfur was worried he might start crying. She would never have thought to see an orc cry, especially not Volugg. Then he merely cleared his throat and sat up straight.

"I have killed people. Not just in war. I have killed children smaller than you. Do you know how easy it is to kill a child?"

Snowfur shook her head silently, horrified. Volugg smiled sadly. "I imagine you wouldn't know. It was easy at the time."

"But...You are nice. How could you do something like that?"

Volugg patted the bed. Snowfur hopped up and went over to sit next to him.

"It's not hard for me to say. I try not to think about it. But just know that I may not be as bad as your father, but I did horrific things. I never thought I could live with myself. His heart, figuratively at least, is hurting."

Snowfur sniffled. She did not want to listen to Volugg, but she forced herself to.

"What if he is lying? He does that."

Volugg smiled. "Better or worse than you?"

The girl frowned, but the orc put a hand on her shoulder.

"I will let you decide of course. But try to at least look in his general direction?"

It was difficult, but Snowfur nodded. It was better than trying to argue with him. She did not agree with him at all. Her father was a monster and he was trying to manipulate her. Tears started to form again in her eyes. Volugg left her for a few moments to calm down. Only until Stub shoved his misshapen head through the door did she manage to feel better. No one could feel upset looking at Stub struggle to squeeze through the door.

Snowfur entered the main room again and picked up her bowl to eat the second helping of stew. She glanced over at her father to get a better look at him. He no longer wore the familiar armor that the girl remembered him always wearing. The armor he wore was leather. It wasn't surprising that Snowfur hadn't heard him when she chased Stub into the tall grass. He looked smaller than he used to. She had rarely seen his face before, but the times she had seen it, it had scared her. Now, she could not see the anger in his expression. His glowing eyes seemed dimmer.

Working up her courage, Snowfur cleared her throat.

"Hi."

Arthas did not respond. Snowfur frowned, "Hello, father."

The man suddenly looked up. She flinched and lowered her eyes to look over at Volugg. He sat casually next to Mudfur, but Snowfur noticed he was gripping the wolf's fur tightly.

"Hello, Sapphire," Arthas replied. His voice sounded so different. Rather than a deep booming voice, it was shallow and ragged.

Snowfur awkwardly corrected him, "My name is Snowfur."

It took him a second to reply. Snowfur thought he would get angry, but when she looked over at him, he merely nodded.

"Snowfur. I will try to remember that."

Silence overwhelmed the room after that. Arthas seemed just as disinclined to speak to her and Volugg did not push either of them. Arthas opened his mouth to speak again, but Snowfur flinched. He closed his mouth, and angry flashed across his face. He got to his feet, and Snowfur fled behind Volugg. Her father went to the door and wrenched it open. Outside, rain fell hard. Without hesitation, Arthas headed out into the storm and shut the door behind him.

Volugg huffed and added a couple of logs to the fire. "He has a long way to go."

Snowfur glanced over at the orc. "What do you mean?"

"He is struggling with himself. He is confused, and there is no one to help him."

Snowfur wanted to say he didn't deserve any help, but she knew Volugg would not listen. So she kept silent. The old orc was nice, but he didn't seem to understand just what a monster her father was. Secretly, she hoped he would be struck by lightning.

* * *

Hours later, Arthas stumbled back into the hut. The rain soaked his clothes completely through, and his boots were coated in mud, but he didn't notice much. Being outside in the fierce winds and flashes of deadly lightning helped clear his head. Following Sapphire had been a bad idea. He should have left her on her own. When he had awoken on the icy ground, alone and disoriented, he had no purpose in life. There was nothing left for him. Except for her.

Next to the fire, Sapphire slept deeply. His entrance did not stir her. The urge to wake her crossed his mind, but he instantly regretted that thought. She hated and feared him for real reasons. Even from the door, he could see a pale scar exposed near her neck. He caused that scar. He had caused every single scar on her body. Everything awful about her life had been caused by him. Either he ignored her and let her starve, or he finally gave her attention in the form of pain and torment. No wonder she had passed out at the sight of him.

In her sleep, Sapphire look small and fragile. Her snowy hair covered her face. Arthas slowly approached her. He pulled off his soaked glove and knelt. She didn't make a sound or moved until he brushed her hair out of the way. Then she unconsciously frowned and repositioned herself. Rather than risk waking her, Arthas went back to his unofficial spot in the corner of the room.

Next to his spot was the skinned lion. While she had been passed out before, Volugg had told Arthas how to skin it and cure the hide. Arthas slowly took off his armor and laid them next to the drying hide. Arthas took off his cloak so he could toss it to the side. The thing was saturated with water and was no use as a blanket or makeshift pillow. Rot and the rest of Arthas's things were back at the inn. He planned on returning to the inn first thing in the morning, rain or no rain.

Arthas was about to lie down, but the orc's wolf walked over to him just then. The man looked into the wolf's brown eyes. She stared at him for what seemed like forever, before she laid down next to him. Her bones creaked as she settled. Arthas sat there for a moment before he too laid down.

* * *

 _Snowfur stood in the middle of a misty forest. She knew what trees were, but she had never seen so many in her life. And they looked nothing like the few snow covered ones she had seen in Northrend or even the skinny bristled trees next to Volugg's house. These trees had bark the color of night. The leaves were black as the bark or the dark grey of the sky. Unlike the straight, needled trees in Northrend, the dark trees were twisted, like broken bodies in torment. She had never been in a place like this, but it somehow seemed familiar._

 _She approached a tree cautiously and reached out to touch it. Her fingers touched liquid, and when she drew her hand back, she could see blood on her fingertips. Snowfur had no aversion to blood and was not scared or disgusted, merely confused._

 _Another thing about this forest that confused her was that it was silent. No animals roamed the forest. Snowfur once read that animals lived in the woods like deer or wolves. But there was nothing. Not even a single bird. Only the trees seemed to live in this strange place. Such isolation was not new to Snowfur, but the atmosphere of the trees unnerved her._

 ** _Come to me._**

 _The girl whipped around, looking around the forest. Still, there was nothing. Just trees and the mist. The mist was so thick, Snowfur could not even see her feet and the ground below her._

 _"Who are you?" She called out._

 ** _I am your only family. That...thing that calls himself your father is nothing to you. I am your real father._**

 _Snowfur wanted to ask him what that meant, but she suddenly saw movement in the silver mist. It looked human, but Snowfur had never seen a human so tall as this creature. She might have thought it was at least ten feet tall. Something was off about its head. It almost seemed like the creature had tree limbs growing out of its head. There was an overwhelming sense of danger. Snowfur backed away, starting to breathe hard._

 _"No! Leave me alone!" She screamed, feeling terrified of this large dark creature approaching her._

* * *

The next thing she felt was cold hands on her. Her eyes focused and she saw her father over her. She instantly shoved him away.

"Don't touch me!" She snarled at him, trembling.

She saw his jaw tighten, but he merely backed away from her. Volugg came out moments later.

"Are you okay?" The orc rumbled. Snowfur nodded, restraining the need to cry. Not only was she having nightmares, but she had to be near...him. Volugg scowled and glanced at Arthas. The man lowered his head and merely made to leave the hut. But as soon as he opened the door, he froze.

"Volugg, does it...snow here that often?"

The orc had been about to start making breakfast, but he glanced over at the man in bemusement. "No? It never snows here."

Arthas turned back. "You mean it has never snowed here before now."

Volugg dropped his pot and scrambled over to the door as quickly as his limp allowed him. He looked out the door. Worried, Snowfur ran over to them and shoved her way past Arthas.

Outside, a thick layer of snow blanketed the landscape. Some of it had started to melt already and turned it into mush. Volugg stared in disbelief, mouth partially opened. Even if it was a weird occurrence, snow is snow. Snowfur loved snow and couldn't resist going out and touching the white powder.

"This is wrong! Very wrong! What is going on with the elements? I...I need a moment," Volugg stammered. He slowly turned around and went into his room, slamming the door. Snowfur was left alone with Arthas. The two looked at each other.

Arthas cleared his throat. "I need to go to the inn. I will be back in maybe an hour."

With that, he walked past Snowfur and left Volugg's farm. Snowfur watched him go, hoping he never came back.


	8. Chapter 8

Stub rolled around the snow, cackling happily. Snow clung to his pale grey fur. While he ran around gleefully, Snowfur collected up a pile of the melting snow, attempting to construct a wall. Her whole life had been in the cold. Whether or not she wanted to admit it, Snowfur missed snow and cold. The Barrens was hot. Sweat was a new experience that Snowfur disliked greatly. It seemed that the weather took pity on her. Playing with the snow distracted her from her problems.

In the middle of her play, Volugg left his hut. He leaned heavily on his staff. He watched Snowfur with a furrowed brow. Snowfur gave up trying to pile up the snow as it continued to melt. Stub became interested in the pile and jumped onto it. Snow sprayed against Snowfur.

The girl let Stub frolic about while she went over to Volugg.

"Are you all right, Volugg?" She asked.

The orc grunted. "No. I consulted with the spirits. Something is wrong with our world."

Snowfur gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? Our world. You mean the whole world?"

Volugg nodded, "You remember what I told you about the elements and the spirits?"

The girl did remember about the dirt, water, air, and fire as well as dead people talking to their living relatives. With the storms, earthquakes, and fires that Volugg had mentioned the elements were upset about something. Now with the snow, Snowfur assumed it was something really bad.

"What are you gonna do? Can you make the world feel better?" Snowfur asked.

Volugg gave her a look of surprise for a second then smiled. "Oh, child. It's not as simple as that. I personally cannot make the world better but perhaps with the help of others I can."

Snowfur perked up. "Other shamans?"

With some effort, Volugg got to his feet. Snowfur followed suit quickly and handed him his staff. He reentered the hut, with Snowfur trailing after. The orc went into the corner of the room where a trunk sat. Snowfur had noticed it before but never bothered to peek inside it. Volugg opened it now, and she saw an old leather pack, a few books, some rocks and wood with carvings etched onto them, and the most notable object being a well-worn battleax. Volugg took everything out and started packing.

"I will go speak with other shamans. Perhaps some druids as well, like Riverdream. I'm not in the best of health, but I am still of use."

Snowfur started handing him whatever he asked her too, excited.

"Do you think I could learn to be a shaman while we are with the others?"

Volugg instantly stopped packing and looked at her in shock. "You are not coming with me."

The girl stood there, confused.

"Where will I go? You are leaving me?"

"No, no. I mean yes I am. But I will be finding someone else to take you in. Don't be afraid. Perhaps Riverdream will take you in. She has several kids and a very understanding husband. You would be happier with her instead of an old bachelor like me."

Tears started to form in Snowfur's eyes. Volugg sighed. "I'm sorry."

Snowfur sniffed. She had only been with Volugg for a short while, but he had been the kindest person she had ever met. And he was leaving her. Before he could say anything, the girl rushed out of the house.

She did not stop until she reached the outskirts of Ratchet. Even in town, there was snow, but Snowfur did not notice. Tears streamed down her face. A palm tree with some spiky shrubs nearby provided her a place to collapse behind and cry in relative solitude.

A cold, wet nose pressed against her arm. Snowfur pushed it away.

"Go away Stub."

Stub persisted, shoving his head underneath her arm and sniffing her wet face. The hyena licked her face gently. He then proceeded to lay down next to her. How long she laid there, Snowfur did not know. Despite the previous snow, the sun quickly warmed Ratchet quickly. Eventually, Snowfur's skin felt warm, and she knew she would probably have some sunburns if she did not get into some shade.

She heard footsteps come up to her and as she sat up, the girl saw a pack set down on the ground and a pair of feet. She looked up. Volugg gave her an understanding look. Next to him, Mudfur stood stoically. He had her bow and arrows in his hands, but he placed those down next to her as well.

"You'll find a ship in Ratchet headed to the Eastern Kingdoms. I gave you plenty of gold for passage."

Snowfur hesitantly took the pack. She tried to open her mouth to apologize, but the orc held up one hand. "Don't even think about it. I understand that you are hurting and scared. But I need to help this world if I can. Besides...You don't need me. You need other humans."

The girl shook her head. She did not want or need other humans. Humans were horrible creatures. Her father was one for example.

Volugg knelt next to her. "When I am done, I'll come find you. How about that?"

Snowfur frowned. "How will you do that?"

The orc smiled and pulled out a necklace from his bag. The string was rough leather, and jagged teeth hung from it. He placed the necklace in Snowfur's hands and put his hand over hers.

"Those are Mudfur's teeth from when she was no bigger than your hyena friend. Wear this. She and I will eventually find you."

The girl felt overwhelmed at the gesture and almost started crying again. But she put the necklace on instead. She then collected her things and stood up.

"Thank you," She whispered, before hugging Volugg. The orc grunted in surprise but let her do it for a couple of seconds before firmly detaching her.

He gestured to the docks. "I packed all of your things in your bag, so you don't need to linger. Now go on!"

Snowfur nodded and left without another word. Stub chased after her. He tried to rush off and explore, but the girl grabbed the patch of loose skin around his neck and kept a firm grip on it. Stub cackled.

The ships all looked intimidating to her. Already she remembered the crashing white water, the cracking of wood and the screams of sailors. She started to shake but Stub looked up to her with his large eyes, and she smiled down at him.

"I'm fine. You can't board a ship and crash twice in a row right?"

Stub had no answer for her, but she tried to tell herself that it was true. Ships are supposed to be safe most of the time, she assumed. This time she wouldn't sneak aboard. Stub's hyperactive and loud nature prevented that kind of thing. Volugg had given her gold so she would go around and ask which ship was heading for...The Eastern Kingdoms? She had no idea what that was, but Volugg had said to go there so she would go there.

Just as she reached the beginning of the docks, a familiar and horrible voice spoke up behind her.

"Where are you going?"

She snapped around, and her father stood there. He had left Volugg's to collect his things and unfortunately he had noticed her.

"None of your business!" Snowfur snapped. Stub growled at Arthas's pack. The man quickly pulled it forward and opened. A little head popped up, and Snowfur was taken aback. Rot's dead eyes seemed to light up upon seeing her, and he tried to leap out, but Arthas caught him before the dog could fall to the ground. As Snowfur looked at the small undead puppy, memories came rushing back.

* * *

 _"His name is Rot. He is your new friend."_

 _Sapphire giggled at the small creature licked her furiously. After a minute the thing got squirmy, so the girl put him down onto the snow. Rot quickly rush off, hopping through the snow as he explored the wide open area. Dark clouds loomed above, and the entire area was surrounded by dark metal walls, but it was all Sapphire knew._

 _The girl watched the thing for a while before glancing up at the death knight standing next to her._

 _"But what is it, Uncle Marwyn? Looks too weird to be a cat."_

 _The death knight laughed. "No, little one. It's a dog. You've seen dogs before. You know...like plaguehounds?"_

 _Sapphire frowned. "But...it's so small!"_

 _The undead man ruffled her hair with a gloved hand. "Silly. It's a puppy dog. Everything starts small when it's born. Like you! You are incredibly small!"_

 _Rot stopped running around in the snow for a second and stood there, looking around. He then looked back at Sapphire and with a yelp, rushed back to her, his single ear flopping in the wind. The girl knelt and picked him up. Rot licked her again._

 _"He's so cute!"_

 _Marwyn glanced down at her. "I'm glad you like him."_

* * *

Snowfur snatched Rot out of Arthas's hands. "You have no right to touch him!"

The second she yelled at him she expected him to kill her. He clenched his jaw but made no movement toward her at all, not even when she backed away.

"I saved him for you. Just don't hold him too roughly. I had to stitch him recently."

Snowfur frowned and looked down at Rot. The undead puppy panted happily. His tail wagged furiously. Stub hopped up on Snowfur's leg to sniff Rot curiously.

The girl sighed and whispered, "Thank you."

Arthas's expression was unreadable, but at least he wasn't angry.

"Where do you think you can go? You think getting back on a ship is safe? You could have died on the last one!"

Snowfur shook her head. Arthas frowned, then glanced toward the docks. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He growled but walked off toward the docks. Despite her better judgment, curiosity got the better of Sapphire. Arthas glanced at each ship, seemingly looking for a specific one. Most of them had red sails, and a lot of them were harsh and covered in metal. He finally found a ship with green sails, and that was the one he wanted.

The girl knew nothing about ships, but it looked alright to her. The wooden sides were crusted over with stuff, but it floated. She assumed that it was a good sign. She watched him approach a sailor. He pulled his hood up before the sailor could see him. The girl followed to overhear their conservation.

"Nice ship. From Kul Tiras I wager?" Arthas asked curiously.

The sailor nodded. "Aye Called the Seagull, milord."

"Very rare to see nowadays. You Kul Tirans keep to yourselves I thought," Arthas had a casual, friendly tone in his voice that Snowfur did not like one bit.

The sailor shrugged and pulled out a bottle of something to drink."Aye but merchants gotta make money. Even if it is by coming to vile ports such as these."

Arthas gave him an understanding look. "Obviously vile. Greenskins everywhere but money is money. The Seagull wouldn't be taking passengers perchance, would they? My daughter and I do not wish to stay in such a place for too long."

After one swig of the bottle, the sailor gestured to a better dressed and cleaner man. Snowfur guessed that was the captain. Arthas glanced back at the girl before going off to see the captain. Snowfur sat down on one of the dock's wooden pilings.

Rot started licking her face. Tears stung in her eyes.

"I missed you too," She whispered. Next to her, Stub whined at Rot. The undead puppy tilted his head at the hyena and barked.

Eventually, Arthas came back. He did not look happy.

"I managed to get you your own room. Even paid for that mongrel's passage," He grunted, nodding toward Stub.

Snowfur scowled, "Volugg gave me money."

Arthas smirked. "I doubt he gave you as much as I had to pay. Kul Tirans don't like to take 'mainlanders' to their home."

The girl didn't even want to go to whatever Kul Tiras was. It sounded stupid. She wanted to go with Volugg and get as far away from her father as possible. So she promptly told him.

"I don't want you coming with me."

Arthas's face darkened. "You'd be dead if I hadn't saved you. I saved your little dog! You need-"

Snowfur cut him off. "What I need from you is for you to die!"

She didn't wait for a reply and just walked off to the boat, tears starting to form in her eyes. She paid no mind to any of the sailors that were milling about on the top of the ship. Snowfur had no idea where her supposed room was, but the captain saw her and approached.

"Good day, little miss. Your cabin is-" He felt silent when he saw the tears in her eyes. Snowfur saw him look past her and knew Arthas was coming, but the captain just cleared his throat.

"Your room is down below. Take those stairs, and it will be the first door on the left." He pointed to the stairs that descended into the ship.

Snowfur nodded and sniffled. "Thank you."

She did not look back toward her father and went quickly where the captain had gestured. Stub instantly followed her, pushing past a sailor who cursed at the hyena. As the captain said, there was a door on the left, and she quickly whipped the door open. She shoved Stub in and closed the door. Rot hopped to the floor and instantly started to investigate the small room. It barely fit all three of them, but Sapphire did not care. She was used to sleeping in small spaces. The bed was attached to the wall, and she instantly flung herself onto it. She sobbed into the pillow even though it smelled like salt and mold.

Stub knew something was wrong and tried his best to climb onto the bed. It was just big enough for them both, so he managed to curl up next to her and cackled in concern. But nothing the hyena or even Rot could do would help Snowfur.


	9. Chapter 9

Anger filled Arthas as Sapphire fled from him. He attempted to catch up to her in order to confront her but as he went forward, he saw the captain approach the girl. They spoke for a moment before Sapphire retreated below decks. At that point the rage inside had passed. Arthas reluctantly came on board the ship, intending to just go below and find someplace where he wouldn't be bothered.

Instead, the captain amiably approach Arthas as well.

"Is something wrong, mister Andrew? Your daughter-"

Arthas cut him off. "How long till we reach Kul Tiras?"

The captain took the hint quickly enough.

"Of course. It might take two weeks but my ship is fast and reliable. With good weather, perhaps a week and a half."

The man nodded absentmindedly. He honestly did not care exactly how many days it would take. He had just needed to change the subject. What he really cared about is how to make his daughter hate him less. Instead of speaking to his daughter, he would have to endure the captain's ramblings.

"We will have to stop briefly by Drustvar to deliver supplies to Falconhurst but after that we will have a straight shot to Boralus. Have you ever been to Boralus, Mister Andrew?"

Arthas turned to look at the captain. "No. Will it be difficult for a foreigner like me to enter?"

The captain shrugged. "Difficult to say. Someone of your...condition might be considered a threat. Show off that daughter of yours and the harbormaster might take pity on you. If not, there are people you might be able to buy off to enter. Or you could just get off in Drustvar and travel overland?"

This interested Arthas. "Drustvar? I don't where that is."

With a wave, the captain directed Arthas toward his own cabin. As most well off captains, this man had a decently furnished cabin. It was only as he looked around did Arthas realize he had forgotten the captains name already. A table stood in the middle of the room, covered with various kinds of maps. The captain unscrolled a map of Kul Tiras. It had been years since Arthas had seen Kul Tiras on a map. As prince, he should know the ins and outs of each human kingdom and had learned as much as he could about them. Arthas briefly remembered an elderly teacher reprimanding him when he was a boy and couldn't read a map properly.

The captain pointed to the eastern region of Kul Tiras. "Here is Drustvar. Heavily forested and mountainous. Lots of ores to be found. Personally, I wouldn't recommend you traveling through."

Arthas scowled. "And why not?"

At this point, the captain fidgeted. "Well. To be sure, you are quite the freak. I'm a ship captain so I'm used to dealing with people like you, but Drustvar's people are superstitious. They would not hesitate to burn you at the stake."

While he was in a foul mood, Arthas did have to let out a laugh. "Well, they could definitely try."

The captain smiled uneasily but his tone remained serious. "Yes, sir. If you want to travel through Drustvar, just be careful. Things happen in the forests of Drustvar. Wolves, highwaymen, and some say witches. Especially because of your girl. Apparently witches eat children. I doubt they exist but wolves and highwaymen are definitely real and they do not show any mercy."

Arthas thanked the captain for the information and went off to find a place to think. He didn't bother looking for his daughter's cabin but found a dark corner next to large barrels. Arthas dumped his belongings next to them and laid down. Despite the seriousness of the captain's tone, Arthas could not take his warnings seriously. Nothing, not wolves, not highwaymen, not even witches, could match Arthas in malice and evil. Though his defeat at the hands of Tirion Fordring had severely weakened him and broken his resolve, Arthas remained mostly the same. He hated being so weak. While he could kill everyone on the ship as well as Ratchet, he could not get back his kingdom. And that depressed him. After he woke from his defeat, there was a temptation inside him to end it all. What was the point of him surviving?

That was when he had remembered his daughter. That weak, idiotic child of his. Everytime she had seen him, she refused to meet his eyes. If her name wasn't Sapphire, Arthas would have forgot what her eye color was. He never saw her eyes until she saw him kill that lion and met his eyes. Many times he had though to just kill her and use her for parts but unfortunately she was his child. He would not demean his own blood and flesh by using it as reagents for experimentation.

Sapphire was a pathetic reason to live but it was better than nothing.

* * *

 _The forest dominated her dreams once more. Everything looked the same as her last dream. Trees twisted into the air while mists clung to everything. The area was bleached of all color. Even the forest floor looked grey like dust. As before, Snowfur reached out to touch one of the tormented trees. Black blood covered her hand. The sense of familiarity overwhelmed her as it did in the last dream. This time however, she saw life. A single bird. It stood on a rock in the middle of a clearing. Curious, the girl approached the bird._

 _"Hello-" Snowfur started to greet the bird, but realized that it was not a normal bird. Instead of a feathered head, the skull was exposed. But the bird looked up at her with its empty eye sockets._

 _"Oh! Are you okay, bird?" The girl asked, concerned._

 _The bird merely shrieked and flew away, disappearing into the oppressive mists. Snowfur thought to follow it, but hesitated to do so. Before she could decide, a voice echoed through the forest._

 ** _So, you are on your way to me. Finally, after all these years I can see you in person. I have missed you, Kalma._**

 _Snowfur saw the figure from her last dream. The giant with tree limbs on his head. That was all the features she could discern, for he kept a distance from her._

 _"Who are you? That's not my name! My name is Snowfur!"_

 ** _A lie you tell yourself. I understand your hatred of HIM. But Sapphire is not your name either. I named you Kalma first, since your mother refused to name you. I almost had you to myself, but that monster took you from me and named you after a chunk of rock._** _The creature sounded furious and Snowfur took a few steps back, overwhelmed by its tone and all the information._

 _"So, Arthas is not my real father?"_

 _The shadowy figure moved through the forest, circling Snowfur threateningly. The girl was terrified. **He sired you, true. But you are the result of MY desires. I am your true father and only kin.**_

 _"You are not a human though!" Snowfur blurted out. It seemed obvious that this gigantic creature was not human but what confused her the most was that it claimed that it was somehow related to her._

 ** _No. And neither are you._**

* * *

Three days into the voyage, Snowfur was bored. She spent her days sleeping mostly, though she would leave her room to eat and for bodily needs for both her and Stub. It was interesting to teach Stub how to use a toilet but now Snowfur just felt empty inside while she lay on her tiny bed. Playing with Rot or Stub only entertained her for an hour or so. She wanted to go up on the deck, to watch the sailors work or look at the clouds. But she was afraid to come across her father. She never saw him on her brief excursions but he might eventually come across her and beat her for the outburst she had days ago. So Snowfur remained in her room until she finally could take it no more.

The girl unlocked her door and let Stub rush out before her. Rot stayed curled up asleep on her bed. Cautiously, she looked out of her room into the thin hallway. The only person around was a sailor asleep on the floor with a few bottle around him.

Snowfur went above deck and regretted it. She loved the clear blue sky and the fresh breeze that blew her hair back but she as she looked past the sides of the ship, fear sunk in.

There was no land. Not a single rock to be seen. Dark water surrounded her for who knows how many miles. When she had stowed away on the ship in Northrend, she never looked out. She kept hidden the entire voyage, until the night the ship crashed and she had to fight to live. There was no learning how to swim in Northrend. For her whole life, before Icecrown was invaded, she had never seen any more water than what would fill a bathtub. It scared her to see so much water from land. Volugg had taught her enough about swimming to keep herself from drowning but the sight of endless water and sky caused Snowfur to rush over to the side of the boat and vomit off the side. Only afterwards did she realize she was now on the edge of the ship. One push would send her into the depths.

She instantly backed away and ran down the stairs. Right into her father. Stub yipped as she almost landed onto him.

Snowfur fell backwards against the stairs and looked up in fear. Her father seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

"Why are you running?" He demanded. The girl quickly sprang up and ran back on deck. She saw a few barrels on the deck and crawled behind them, trying to restrain tears. Stub followed her and started to lick her face. Rot was no where to be found.

Arthas did not approach her, and after she waited what seemed like hours, she slowly made her way down to her room, but she saw Arthas down in the hall. He was holding Rot and saying things to the undead puppy. The dog wagged his tail. The man then set down the dog and walked off. A piece of paper was in his mouth.

Rot saw the girl and wagged his tail, then ran up to her. He offered the piece of paper. Snowfur took it and opened it.

 _Meet me tonight on the deck._

Snowfur scoffed and tossed the paper aside.


	10. Chapter 10

For days, the fog obscured everything. It had rolled in a week after the ship had sailed out of Ratchet. The captain had been forced to make the ship move at a crawl and the slow pace due to the fog had a negative effect on the crew. The first day was fine but sailors were a suspicious lot. The men grew irritable as days passed. Mild fights broke out. None threatened Arthas but they shot dark glances in his general direction. These did not bother Arthas one bit but what bothered him was when he saw the crew members start giving Sapphire similar looks.

She seemed oblivious to the tense situation on board the ship. If he had told her to stay inside her room, she would not have listened to him. He had attempted to reconcile with her many times but each time she fled at the sight of him. Instead whenever she left her room, Arthas made sure to watch her from the shadows.

One night, Sapphire left her room to get a meal. She cradled Rot in her arms like a baby, with the hyena trailing behind her. Arthas got up to follow her but before either one could do anything, a particularly drunk sailor came down the hall. He carried a half empty bottle of alcohol.

"Hey, pretty girl," The sailor said, each word badly slurred.

Sapphire instantly backed away and Arthas came out of the shadows immediately.

"I suggest you go back to your cot and sleep off all that booze," Arthas stated firmly.

The sailor blinked drunkenly at him then sneered.

"You talking to me, corpse?"

Arthas smiled. Before Sapphire could react, he grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him.

The sailor got pissed and snapped, "I just wanted a kiss from that little bitch. Don't be jealous, you rotting piece of meat."

Rage engulfed Arthas and he grabbed the sailor by the throat and shoved him against the wall. He heard a surprised noise and saw Sapphire in the corner of his eye. She had fallen back and was looking at the exchange in horror. Arthas almost let the sailor off for his drunken behavior but as soon as he let the sailor go, the drunk idiot swung bottle at Arthas's head. The bottle shattered and rage overcame Arthas.

He slammed the sailor against the wall. The sailor tried to punch him but it was futile. Only a drunkard would be foolish enough to attack a deathknight and expect to survive.

"Mother fucker!"

Arthas grabbed the arm of the sailor and twisted it hard. The sailor cried out in agony. Suddenly panic set in. The other sailors were going to hear him. Arthas instantly covered the sailors mouth, and tried to decide what to do. He could not just let the man go. He would tell the others.

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthas saw Sapphire cowering in the corner still. Again, he felt like he was willing to let the sailor go but the man bit his hand. Arthas let his anger go then. He slammed the man's head against the wall, disorienting the sailor momentarily. He then kicked the man in the knee to force him down. The sailor realized his predicament.

"Wait, wait. I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

Arthas grabbed the man's head and twisted it hard, until he heard a crack and pop. The man's body went limp. Arthas dropped the body without a thought, but a small whimper made him remember that Sapphire was still there.

He turned around and Sapphire instantly cowered back. Next to her, the mongrel pet of hers realized what was going on and gave Arthas a warning growl. Rot sat in Sapphire's arms with a conflicted look in his beetle black eyes. Sapphire was trapped in a corner between a couple of large barrels. Arthas looked at the barrels curiously and then back at the dead sailor.

"I'm going to hide the body in one of those barrels behind you. Move," Arthas growled at the girl. She did not hesitate to scurry away as her father easily picked up the body and dragged it over to the barrels. Most of them were full of supplies, but one only held a small amount of rope. The man flung the rope away and attempted to shove the body into the barrel. It did not fit.

Arthas cursed. He then unsheathed his sword and held it up. He then looked back at Sapphire.

"You might want to shut your eyes," Arthas suggested in a softer tone. Unfortunately she had regained her composure.

Sapphire scowled at him. "No!"

Rather than argue, Arthas proceeded to dismember the body. He had to do it quickly before any other sailors came down looking for their drunk comrade. Using the common steel sword he owned, he cut off the legs and arms. Sapphire just watched him coldly. After he managed to stuff most of the body into the barrel, he heard a cry from topside.

"Land ho!"

Luck was with them. Arthas and Sapphire might be able to leave the ship before anyone noticed the disappearance of one sailor.

"Get your things," Arthas snapped at Sapphire. She needed no further prompting.

Blood coated Arthas's arms so he quickly found one barrel full of water and dunked his arms into the water. For a split second he found the idea of the sailors drinking blood tainted water amusing. Better that than getting so drunk they harass little girls.

As soon as Sapphire came out carrying her belongings and Rot, Arthas grabbed his own things. He caught Sapphire's attention and gestured to the body filled barrel.

His voice was more threatening than he had intended. "Not a word to anyone. Got it?"

Sapphire nodded quickly. With some more luck, Arthas led her up to the deck of the ship, hoping nothing else went wrong.

In the distance, land emerged through the fog. Distant lights of a coastal town twinkled. Soon, what looked to be simple docks appeared over the water. Sailors prepped the ship for docking. Despite the small appearance of the docks, it seemed that the captain was confident enough to approach them.

Arthas felt tense during the entire process of docking. He wished to disembark as quickly as possible. At any moment, one of the sailors might go below and find the dead body of their mate. Then the alarm would be raised and Arthas would no doubt have to kill the entire crew. He might have to kill the townsfolk as well if they witnessed anything. Arthas had no qualms about doing it but he doubted that slaughtering an entire town would help him in gaining his daughter's trust. Even now she was glancing at him nervously. She had no intention of thanking him for saving her from that drunken idiot.

* * *

Snowfur was terrified. Minutes before, her father had brutally murdered a sailor. It did not matter that she had seen him do worse. Before, he had rarely ever paid attention to her. She was less than a ghoul to him. Something to kick at if she got in his way. She learned early on to stay out of his way.

But now he had been paying far too much attention towards her. Killing the soldier for seemingly no reason just reiterated the fact that he could do much worse to her. The captain safely brought ship to the docks and Arthas nearly pushed the girl off the boat in his rush to leave. Snowfur didn't know why he didn't just kill the entire ship of people but he clearly did not want to be anywhere near the ship when the dead sailor was eventually discovered.

The town, which the captain called Falconhurst, might have impressed Snowfur if she wasn't feeling so uneasy. The coastal town looked nothing like Ratchet. Most of the buildings in Ratchet were made out of stone. Wood was scarce in the barrens. Falconhurst looked more similar to the town in Northrend she had visited briefly before stowing away on her first ship. The buildings were mostly made out of wood. The smell of salt and fish was overwhelming. Briefly the girl thought of the shelled food that Volugg had introduced her to and looked off the side of the docks into the water. The water looked nothing like the water that crashed against the shore of the Barrens. This water was slick with gleaming oil. A dead, rotten fish was tangled in a floating patch of net. Snowfur's appetite for seafood immediately left her.

"Sapphire, come." Her father snapped at her. Instantly Snowfur followed him, dragging Stub away by a handful of neck fur. He had tried to paw at the dead fish in the water, unperturbed by the smell.

There were people wandering on the docks and in the town, but all of them made plenty of room as Arthas and Snowfur passed. The girl didn't blame them for the aversion to her father. It showed that they had common sense.

Arthas led her through town but instead of admiring the unique buildings and people, Snowfur looked for a way to escape from her father. She finally found an opportunity to leave when she saw a dark path between two buildings. Arthas had stopped briefly to ask someone something and the girl took the risk. She quickly left when his back was turned and ran between the houses. The sound of paws hitting dirt told her that Stub followed. Rot poked his head out of her pack briefly and barked. She slipped over a fence and fell into a pig pen. Stub jumped over, startling the pigs. Snowfur quickly went over the second fence and hid behind a shed. Stub followed her, making excited cackling noises. The girl shushed him but the hyena seemed to think it was all a game. She finally grabbed his snout and kept him quiet by force. Stub didn't struggled so the girl reward him with a pet from her free hand. His stubby tail wagged happily.

"Caw!"

Snowfur jumped at the sudden noise and looked up. On a barrel next to her sat a black bird with a large beak and bright blue eyes. She'd never seen a bird like it before but it seemed familiar. Next to her, Stub growled through his shut mouth.

"Oh. Hello bird!" The girl whispered. The bird tilted its head and cawed quickly put a finger to her mouth. "Shhh! I'm hiding."

The bird looked at her inquisitively then pecked at her hair.

"Ow! How rude!"

Stub broke free from her hand finally and lunged at the bird, teeth gleaming. The bird squawked and tried to fly away, but Stub caught one wing in his mouth. He slammed the bird into the ground. Snowfur gasped in horror.

"No Stub! Bad! Bad boy!" She yelled at him. Stub dropped the now limp bird and whined. He tried to approach her, tail between his legs but Snowfur wouldn't have it. She smacked him on the nose.

"Bad hyena!"

Stub recoiled and proceeded to lay on the ground, clearly dismayed by her attitude.

Snowfur decided that it was time to leave and started to move from the shed, but before she could a large ice cold hand grabbed her upper arm.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?"

The girl screamed and tried to escape her father but he had a saronite hard grip on her. She tried to kick him but it was useless. Stub looked conflicted over whether or not Arthas was a threat or not.

Arthas pulled her closer to him. "I will only ask once more. What are you doing?"

"Trying to escape!" Snowfur sobbed, still trying to claw his hand off of her.

He released her and the suddenness of it caused her to fall over backward. Her head hit the barrel that the bird had previously perched on and pain exploded across the back of her skull. Rot crawled out of her pack and barked angrily at Arthas. The girl rubbed her head.

The anger was clear on her father's face. She expected him to hurt her but he merely started to yell. She might have preferred to be kicked. "You are such a stupid, ignorant child! I protected you from that sailor! But you are trying to 'escape' me? You know what? Fine, go and see how long you last without me or that orc you befriended! I give it a night before you come crawling back to me!"

Snowfur winced at his booming voice and cowered before him. Arthas pointed to road that left the town to disappear into the dark forests beyond.

"Go on! Go be prey for wolves or highwaymen. I won't come save you. There is no one that will help you besides me! Marwyn is dead. Falric is dead. Kel'thuzad is dead! I am all you have left but go on. Leave."

The girl thought he was tricking her. As soon as she ran away, he would hurt her more than what he'd down to her head. But she decided to risk it. She snatched up her pack and fled to the forests. Rot whined, looking back at the shrinking figure of Arthas. He then jumped out of her pack.

"Rot?" Snowfur stopped before entering the forest. Rot glanced at her briefly, before running back towards Arthas. Stub sniffed in the dog's direction, clearly confused. Snowfur felt tears start to form in her eyes as the dog abandoned her. The girl saw her father bend down to pick up Rot and then looked at Snowfur with a strange look on his face. She had no idea but it almost seemed like he was disappointed.

Snowfur turned her back on him and entered the forest.


	11. Chapter 11

The forest differed greatly from the Barrens and Northrend. Great thick tree trunks surrounded Snowfur in a comforting way. For almost her entire life. she lived within confining metal walls of Icecrown Citadel. The few times she went outside, walls and large rock cliffs still surrounded her. When she left Icecrown Citadel for good, the wide open expanses of snow had terrified her. Even the Barrens made her uncomfortable. The forest provided Snowfur comfort. The sky could barely be seen between the leaves on the trees. Leaves on the forest floor crunched under her feet like snow.

Stub seemed to enjoy himself as he ran over all the leaves. At one point, he flat out jumped into a small pile of them. The leaves flew into the air after his landing. Besides the noises the two created, the forest was very quiet. Snowfur thought forests would have birds chirping or wolves howling, but there was nothing. Snowfur had never seen a squirrel but she had read about them and looked for one in the treetops, but she saw nothing. The forest seemed lifeless.

With zero sense of direction, Snowfur wandered the forest without any idea of where she was going. She never worried about getting lost. Her father was gone. He had let her just run away and had not followed her. Snowfur felt relief even as she wandered the dark woods.

That was how she felt for a hour, until her stomach started growling. Snowfur spied a bush underneath one of the trees. Bright white berries dotted the bush. Snowfur had never eaten a white berry before but she thought they were harmless. White did not seem a dangerous color. Snow was white. Stub was whitish grey. Even her own hair was white. Surely the berries were fine.

Snowfur approached the berry bush without hesitation and started to pick the berries off the bush. Stub sniffed the berries but seemed uninterested. Just as the girl held up a handful of berries to her mouth, she saw bright green eyes shine within the bush.

The girl yelped and fell over backwards trying to retreat from the bush. The berries she had picked dropped to the ground.

"Those are poisonous, you know," A voice called from the bush.

Snowfur sat up and peered into the bush. The bright eyes belonged to nothing more dangerous than a human boy. The girl cursed herself for getting so alarmed at his appearance. The boy partially left the bush so Snowfur could see him more clearly. Dark tawny skin had helped camouflage him within the bush. He was skinny, though not nearly as skinny as Snowfur was. Twigs and leaves poked out from his night black hair. He wore a variety of different furs. All in all, the boy blended into the forest besides for his unnaturally bright emerald eyes.

"Did I scare you?" The boy asked, tilting his head. Stub trotted over to the boy and sniffed him curiously.

Snowfur instantly grew defensive. "No!"

The boy smiled at her tone, which caused her to get angry. She stood up and glared at him.

"What did you mean by poisonous? I can't eat those berries?" She demanded. The boy stood up in turn and she was happy to see that though he had more meat on his bones than her, he was shorter than her by more than a foot in height.

"Yes! Unless you want to be in lots of pain and possibly die. Have you never seen mistletoe before?"

Snowfur shook her head. The boy then smiled.

"It was good that I was here then! I saved you."

The girl scowled darkly and put her hands on her hips. She did not like this human boy. He seemed arrogant to her. "No you didn't! I would have been fine. Who even are you?"

The forest boy seemed taken aback by her hostility but kept his friendly tone.

"My name is Grendel," He stated proudly, holding out his hand. Snowfur remembered that this was a form of friendly behavior. She took his hand and shook it.

"Snowfur," She replied. Grendel's eyes seemed to brighten more and he leaned in and sniffed her. Snowfur recoiled back. She had never been smelled by another person before. Was this how human boys acted normally? If so, she did not like it.

The boy smiled. "You smell like snow. That's nice. Want to sniff me?"

Snowfur stared at him, clearly uncomfortable with the proposition but luckily she did not have to answer.

Grendel seemed to finally notice Stub and gasped in delight. The hyena wagged his tail and cackled at the boy.

"Why what a weird looking wolf! Hello brother! Can I sniff you?"\

Now the boy knelt down and got down on all fours. Snowfur backed away as she watched the boy and Stub sniff each other. She was still trying to debate whether or not this was normal behavior for a human boy. She had no previous experience with humans or any other race the same age as her so she just had to assume this was normal.

So when Grendel stood back up, Snowfur leaned in and sniffed his hair. He smelled like smoke and the dead leaves around them. Grendel seemed very happy that she had smelled his hair and proceeded to continue their conversation.

"Why are you trying to eat poisonous berries, Snowfur?" He asked.

Snowfur wanted to be angry for that reminder of her naivete but she ignored it. "I am hungry. Do you have any food?"

Grendel shook his head.

"No, no food. But there is plenty of chestnuts and mushrooms to find. Would you like some of that?

Snowfur did not know what a chestnut was but mushrooms were familiar to her, poisonous and edible. She nodded eagerly. Grendel instantly bounded off into the forest, calling back to her.

"Follow me!"

The girl and Stub followed the weird forest boy. He stopped in a clearing, where pale mushrooms grew on a fallen log. He pointed at them happily.

"These are edible. I'll gather up the chestnuts while you pick those."

Snowfur knelt down and started pulling the pale mushrooms off the rotten wood. Grendel started picking up round brown things off the forest floor. He placed them in a small pile and started collecting sticks. Snowfur picked up one of these so called "nuts" and almost bit into before Grendel saw her and snatched it out of her hand.

"You can't eat them raw!" He snapped worriedly.

Snowfur sighed. "Why not? I'm hungry!"

Grendel started to put the wood sticks into a pile and rubbed some of the sticks together. "They need to be roasted! Or you could get sick. You are kind of useless aren't you?"

Anger boiled up within Snowfur. First the boy had scared her, then implied he had saved her life, and then had sniffed her! Now he was calling her useless. She highly disliked this weird forest boy. Grendel seemed to not notice her growing dislike. Somehow a fire sparked up and he started to roast the chestnuts and mushrooms over the tiny fire and handed some to Snowfur on a leaf.

"Here, eat them while they are still warm."

Snowfur started eating the chestnuts, and found them tasty. Even Stub liked them. The mushrooms were not the worst the girl had eaten, but she had definitely eaten better things. Grendel roasted his own food and happily ate them.

"My mother is gonna be so happy I found a friend," He commented cheerfully.

The girl frowned. "You have a mother?"

Grendel nodded. "She's really pretty! Fur the color of night and teeth sharp as knives! You will like her!"

Snowfur had no inclination to meet a woman with fur and sharp teeth. She definitely did not want to spend anymore time with the boy. He had fed her but she still didn't like him. She shook her head. "No, I can't meet your mother. I have to go soon."

The boy frowned and looked up a the sky. It was not dark yet but the sky was slowing turning red as the sun set.

"But you can't wander these woods alone at night."

The girl had no fears of the dark unlike the forest boy.

Grendel suddenly looked around the forest as if he could hear something. "Oh no. The Hunter is hunting early? We have to go! Come with me, please!" The boy pleaded, fear apparent in his green eyes.

"You are scared of some silly hunter? I'm not!" Snowfur sneered. What kind of threat was a hunter? Hunters hunted and tamed animals. Snowfur was not an animal. Stub was but so long as he stayed close to her, this so called hunter wouldn't hurt him. Why would he?

The boy looked like he wanted to retort but an unearthly howl broke through the silence of the forest. Grendel immediately jumped to his feet.

"I'm so sorry but face the Hunter on your own. I'm not suicidal," The boy snapped and he fled into the forest, disappearing almost immediately.

He had left a large pile of chestnuts uncooked and Snowfur was still hungry so she started to roast the rest of them over the dying fire. Stub seemed unnerved by the howl and was whimpering while pacing behind Snowfur.

* * *

"I may have been a little rash but that doesn't mean you have to keep looking at me with hostility."

Arthas picked up his mug and drank the ale. He sat at the darkest corner of Falconhurst's only inn, ignoring all the hateful looks from the locals. Next to the man, Rot glowered judgingly at him. The dog had wholely disapproved of Arthas's parenting methods. Arthas agreed with the mutt's assessment, to his own surprise. His outburst toward Sapphire had been childish and impulsive. Instead of chasing after her like he should have though, Arthas instead sulked in the dingy tavern. Every mortal in the building gave him dark glares. One had even spat at him as he passed. The bartender had seemed reluctant to server him but Arthas had set down a single gold coin and asked for an ale. Gold was more than enough to encourage the bartender to keep Arthas happy.

He took another swig of the ale and heard Rot growl at him. At first the man ignored the mutt but that did not stop Rot. The dog crawled into Arthas's lap and dug his tiny claws into the man's thigh.

Arthas sighed. "I'll look for her in the morning. She'll be curled up under a tree ten feet from the forest edge! There's no way she got too far. Besides, she's got that furball to protect her from such dangers like rabbits and dead leaves."

Rot curled up his lip and snarled. Arthas had enough of the dog's attitude and picked him up by the scruff of his neck.

"I will find her. Tomorrow!" He hissed angrily. Arthas then dropped the dog onto the floor and proceeded to drink more ale. While alcohol no longer affected him as it would have in life, the action of drinking provided some comfort to him. He did not waste another thought on Sapphire until he made his way to the room he rented in the inn. As he laid down on the course sheets of the bed, Arthas thought about how cold Sapphire would be in the forest. He could imagine her shivering under a tree, clutching at Stub. She might even be crying. Tears streaking down her face.

Guilt wracked his mind as he tried to get to sleep. Rot hopped up to the single crude window of the room and stared out at the forest, occasionally letting a whine leave his mouth. Slowly the sun started to set, turning the sky red. Finally Arthas turned his back to Rot and the window and tried to justify his actions. She would be fine. The girl had been in colder weather for her entire life. One lonely night in the woods would teach her a lesson.


	12. Chapter 12

Darkness seemed a silly thing to be afraid of in Snowfur's opinion. Lack of light did not hurt anyone. She supposed it was the stuff that hid in the darkness that was worth being afraid over. At night the forest started to come to life. Owls hooted in the dark. Little bats fluttered overhead the clearing. The howls grew louder and steadily grew closer, causing the girl to feel uneasy. Snowfur began to believe the weird Grendel was justified in his quick departure.

Unfortunately, Snowfur could not hide anywhere. The clearing only had a few small rocks and a half rotten tree trunk. Stub circled the fire nervously, occasionally whining. His ears flicked nervously. He kept glancing between Snowfur and the darkness in front of him.

A growl rumbled from the darkness. Snowfur jumped to her feet and scrambled to get her bow out. She snatched an arrow and nocked it like Volugg had taught her. She was no marksman but she hoped she could defend herself.

A creature came into view of the dying fire light. An antlered skull with green glowing eyes greeted her. Snowfur watched as the rest of the body came into view and almost felt like she was back home in Icecrown Citadel. The creature was an odd amalgamation of wood, meat, and bones. It appeared like some sore of doglike monster. The canine monster opened its jaw. A rotted tongue dropped out from its jaw. Black liquid dripped out the mouth. The familiar stench of rot washed over Snowfur.

Stub immediately snarled at the dead creature, lips curling back up to expose his teeth. The grey white fur on his hunched back stood up. Without hesitation, the creature lunged at Stub. The two fought, each one snarling and biting at each other. Stub shrieked in pain as the creature scratched the hyena. Snowfur couldn't shoot the creature with it being in such close quarters. She remembered that she had small knife and went to get it but a growl stopped her.

Another creature jumped into the light. It was the same kind of doglike construction. It smacked Snowfur's bow out of her hands with one clawed paw and snarled at her.

Snowfur backed away, suddenly frightened. Stub noticed the second monster and tried to shake off the first to help Snowfur. Unfortunately, the first creature took advantage of Stub's distraction and bit him in the neck, ripping into his flesh.

Before Snowfur could do anything, the second creature jumped onto the girl. She fell to the ground and suddenly saw nothing but teeth. The jaws of the creature clasped around her neck. Teeth pressed down into her fragile fresh and she expected to die, but it did not bite down.

The sound of hooves thundered into the clearing. Snowfur tried to see what was approaching but the creature dug claws into the girl's stomach. It aslo tightened its grip on her throat.

A sharp whistle from above caused the creature to finally let go of her. Snowfur finally turned her head just in time to see heavy leather boots stop just in front of her, blocking out half of her vision.

"Ah. A female? Never caught one of you before." The voice was deep but not as deep as Snowfur's father or Volugg.

Snowfur tried to sit up, but the creature did not step off of her. The girl looked up and saw the legs, torso, arms, and finally the head of her...rescuer? Captor? Like the dog creatures, the face of the man was a antlered skull.

"Who are you?" Snowfur demanded.

The humanoid creature bent down and eyed Snowfur up and down.

"My prey call me the Huntsman. Are you prey?"

Snowfur shook her head aggressively. The Huntsman tilted his head, then whistled again. The monster backed off Snowfur's body. Snowfur sat up and was going to stand up before she noticed the Huntsman outstretching one gloved hand. She decided to take it. The Huntsman helped her to her feet. Stub was gone. Snowfur thought he might have been killed but there was no body. The other creature was gone as well. Before she could wonder where the hyena went, the Huntsman caught her attention.

With an overdramatic flourish, the Hunstman grabbed his skull and whipped it off. The Huntsman was no undead creature but a normal, living man. His eyes were dark blue like hers and his thick beard was coal black. The man's lips curled up and he gave the girl a toothy smile.

"If you are not prey, then you may call me Adalger. What's a tiny little thing like you wandering about the Crimson Forest?"

Snowfur looked around the forest, confused. "Why is it called the Crimson Forest? There isn't any red."

Adalger laughed. "How...cute. Well, come now."

The man grabbed her by the arm rather roughly. Snowfur had expected the man to ride a horse, but the creature was like the doglike creatures. Nothing but a collection of bone, meat, and wood in the form of a horse or stag.

Snowfur yanked her arm away from the Huntsman. "Where are you taking me? Where is my friend Stub?"

The Huntsman looked around. "Oh, that mangy dog? That was your friend? He ran off after my wicker beasts attacked. The wounds were not fatal. I can track it down later for you, but my master has been waiting years for you. He shouldn't wait any more."

Snowfur felt a chill run down her spine. He was talking about the dark man that she dreamed about. The one that called himself Snowfur's true father. While still worried for Stub, Snowfur just hoped this Adalger would find him quickly.

She decided to follow Adalger. It did not seem like she had many other choices. He helped her up onto his mount and then mounted up himself.

"Hold on tight, girl." Snowfur obeyed, gripping the bony spines that protruded from the animal's back. The Huntsman did not even need to signal the beast before it started to run. Snowfur bit her lip hard and tightened her grip. The very few times she had ridden horses before had never been pleasant. Volugg had let her ride Mudfur once and it had been fun. But the wolf was old and did not go fast. This constructed thing went fast. It rushed between the thick growth of trees and shrubs, dodging every obstacle without hesitation. Every fallen log or dip in the ground, the creature leaped over with ease. There were no roads in the woods, or any sign of humans ever entering the forest for that matter. Snowfur wondered why that was. She wasn't far from that coastal town but the people there did not seem to enter the forest at all. The journey itself did not take long. Snowfur noticed briefly that they were going up hill and eventually crested the hills, where the trees started to thin.

They came to a large depression in the hills, curving downward where no trees grew. Except one. This tree was larger than any other tree Snowfur had seen before. The trunk itself was thick and wide. She suspected it was bigger than Volugg's hut by atleast three times. While the tree was large, it was not very tall, barely cresting over the hill and the trees that surrounding the area. People could walk on even the smallest branches easily. Not a single leaf grew from any of the branches however.

The tree gave off a very foreboding feeling, but the girl did not know why. Besides the tree, pools of water were scattered over the landscape and there was even a set of waterfalls to one side. Mists clung to everything. The girl had not seen such a place before and over all it looked innocent enough. The sense of unease remained however. Before Snowfur could barely take the scenery all in, the Huntsman set his horse toward the tree.

"Is...is this where your master lives?" Snowfur asked.

The Hunstman laughed. "In a way. See that opening there?"

Snowfur saw that the tree had a sort of doorway made out of carved stone. She nodded.

"That's the entrance to Thros. Do you know what that is?"

She had never heard of Thros before, but something about that name unnerved her. Suddenly Snowfur felt scared. Everything about the tree seemed off. She did not want to go into that tree and was not about to be silent about it.

"No. And it doesn't sound nice at all! I'd like to leave," She stuttered, and tried to get off the horse. Adalger grabbed her arm and twisted it. The girl yelped in pain.

All friendliness vanished from the Huntsman voice. "Leave? Oh no, you are not going anywhere! I suggest you do what you are told or my wicker beasts will be feasting on you tonight!"

Snowfur struggled. "Let me go!"

Surprisingly, the Huntsman did but only because he was dismounting. He held out his hand.

"Now...are we going to be a good little girl? Or am I going to have to hurt you again? I prefer breaking fingers. Which ones are your favorites?" He said all of this with a sadistic smile.

Snowfur cowered on the back of the horse, unsure of what to do. Stub was no where to be found. Volugg was off to do shaman stuff. The only person in the world who could have probably saved her was back in Falconhurst and had no intentions of ever trying to save her again.

The girl meekly took the Huntsman's hand and dismounted the horse. Adalger kept a firm grip on her and led her to the giant tree.

She thought briefly of biting him and escaping, but there was no where to run. He knew these woods and could chase her down without even trying. She was trapped.

* * *

Arthas groaned as he woke, feeling tiny claws scratching at his face. At first all he did was sleepily brush the annoyance out of the way. But the irritating dog was persistent and dug at the human's face.

"What?" Arthas snarled, opening his eyes. Rot sat directly in front of his face. Beady little black eyes stared back at Arthas's glowing blue ones. Then, the dog barked.

"She can wait five more minutes."

Rot growled and dug at Arthas's face. Angered, the deathknight abruptly sat up which caused the dog to fall over backwards.

"I used to be the Lich King! You obeyed me. Not the other way around!" Arthas bellowed at the diminutive figure. Rot merely whined pitifully while struggling to turn himself back over.

The man sighed and picked up Rot, setting him down properly on the floor. The dog wagged its tail gratefully.

"Fine. I'm up. How...how should I apologize to her?"

Rot tilted his head in confusion and did not answer. He merely walked over to Arthas's things. The dog stuck his little head into the bag and rummaged about. While the dog did that, Arthas put on his pathetic leather armor, wishing for even steel plate.

The dog pulled out what looked like a mass of flesh, but when Arthas took it from the dog he saw that it was a doll. An ugly, heavily stitched thing with stuffing poking out of various holes. It closely resembled an abomination, one of the many horrors unleashed by the Scourge. Arthas looked at the doll, and then at Rot.

"Is this Sapphire's? Have you carried this all the way from Northrend?"

Rot barked and started hopping about the room. He had found it in Sapphire's room and stuffed it in Arthas's pack when the man was not looking. Sapphire apparently cared a lot about the doll. As happy as she was to see Rot, she would also be happy to be reunited with the inanimate toy.

Arthas took the doll and carefully tied it to his belt so it would be in easy reach. Sapphire might try to run again so he wanted to show it to her quickly. Catching her off guard was the only way he would be able to get an apology heard. Apologies were not his strong suit. He had no idea what to say but perhaps it would come to him while searching for her. He thought about taking all of his stuff but decided against it. All he took was his pitiful steel sword, a dagger, and the extra cloak he had found. Sapphire would no doubt be cold.

"Come on. Let's go find her."


	13. Chapter 13

Snowfur was dragged into the giant tree by the Huntsman and forced her down underneath the thick roots. Bones littered the steps. Heavily used candles lined the earthen floor. There was a roughly hewn stone doorway down at the bottom, which is where the Huntsman led Snowfur to. He let go of her briefly and started scrawling runes into the dirt in front of the doorway.

Adalger turned to Snowfur and snapped his fingers.

"Give me your hand," He commanded. She could try to resist, but the man was three times her size at the very least. Snowfur timidly held out her hand. The Huntsman gripped her wrist and turned her hand palm up. Metal rasped as he pulled out a dagger. The girl instantly recoiled but he held on to her too tightly.

"Entrance to Thros often requires sacrifice."

He ran the dagger swiftly across her palm. Snowfur yelped in pain as blood gushed out of her palm. Instinctively she clenched her fingers tightly over the gash. The Huntsman snatched her wrist harshly and turned it over. Blood dripped off her hand onto the dirt symbols. The symbols sparked before glowing a blackish blue color.

The doorway started to shudder. It seemed like the entire underground room would collapse. The doorway exploded into a blindingly sheen of blue energy. Adalger let go of Snowfur and gave her a sadistic grin.

"Well? Can't stand leaving me, sweetheart? A second ago you couldn't wait to get away from me. I know, I know. I'm quite the charmer but I can not come with you. I need to find your...little furry friend."

His comments did not comfort her in the slightest. Snowfur knew he had no intention of returning Stub to her. He most likely wanted to finish Stub off. She wanted to try begging but Adalger shoved her backwards into the portal.

* * *

Nothing could prepare Snowfur for the sensation of the portal. It felt like she was thrown into both freezing cold water and blazing fire. It only lasted for a second before Snowfur collapsed onto something hard, landing on both her hip and right arm.

She groaned. "Ow."

It took a few moments for her to recover from the experience.

As she took in her surroundings, surprise took her. Her dreams had become reality. The forest she laid in looked like the one she had been dreaming of occasionally. As she look all around, she realize she was in the clearing that Adalger had just brought her to. She stood in the doorway that was carved into the giant tree. But everything was obviously different. The trees that dominated the landscape were no longer pale brown or grey. They were dark black. Mists swirled around their branches and trunks.

Snowfur got to her feet slowly, wondering just what she was going to do. She wondered if she could even leave the forest now. She was not even positive she was alive anymore. Everything seemed wrong.

Just to make sure she truly was in the same place as her dream, Snowfur hesitantly went to touch one of the trees. Wet, black blood came away on her hand as she pulled her hand back. Definitely real. Disgusted, Snowfur wiped the blood onto her dress.

"Kalma."

Snowfur whipped around, trying to figure out where the voice had come from.

"Hello?" She said softly. She tried to remain fearless but it was difficult.

Cautiously, Snowfur entered the forest toward the voice. She started to climb a small hillock, hoping to see above the trees in order to get her bearings. No animals inhabited the creepy forest as far as she knew. There looked to be a bulbous misshapen tree clinging to the hillock. Snowfur saw that it was high so decided to climb it. She reached up toward a branch...only to be greeted by a face. The supposed tree bark separated to reveal dark blue eyes.

Snowfur recoiled in surprise and almost fell back down the hillside.

"My, my. You have grown so much since I last saw you."

The tree seemed to split in half as the tree man stood up. He was at least ten feet tall, if not taller. The reason Snowfur had mistaken him for a tree was because parts of his body was covered in bark. He was some kind of vrykul, Snowfur thought. He smiled unnaturally wide at Snowfur, revealing large sharp teeth. The girl did not like his smile and refused to return it. The man sensed her discomfort and knelt down.

"I know I might seem scary, but I'm harmless. How are you, little Kalma? Did Adalger treat you well?"

Snowfur found her voice as tears formed in her eyes. "No! He hurt my friend Stub, grabbed me roughly, and cut my hand!"

The large tree man gasped. "What? I'll have to speak to him! No one treats my dear granddaughter this way! Oh child, you have had a rough night."

He reached down to the girl and stroked her hair. Snowfur sniffled and smiled at him. This seemed to please the man.

"There, there my dear! I am Gorak Tul. You are Kalma my great great great granddaughter and you are perfectly safe here."

Snowfur shook here head in denial. She couldn't be related to this giant, half tree man. Deep inside though, she would love to be. She had never known any family besides her father.

"I can't be related to you. I'm a human."

Gorak Tul snorted and stood up straight to his full height. "No, no, no. You are not a filthy human. You are a Drust. A mighty breed of people! This land was ours before the disgusting humans took it from us and destroyed our people. The only way our people could survive was to...consort with the humans."

Then the Drust made a sound of disgust. "Only a few Drust children are born to humans every century. The Drust blood is more and more diluted every time. You are the first female Drust born in three hundred years! You are very special."

Snowfur blinked in surprise and immediately shook her head. "No I'm not. I'm me."

Gorak Tul smiled, again showing off his white teeth. Snowfur disliked how white they were. He reached down and patted the girl on her head. She tried not to flinch as his large hand touched her hair.

"But you are special. Whoever told you otherwise is wrong."

Snowfur bit her lip. She wasn't used to such compliments. The Drust seemed to sense her unease and leaned forward toward her.

"You must be starving! Would you like something to eat, my little sapling?"

She was indeed hungry. The food Grendel had provided barely staved off her hunger. She nodded, and winced when Gorak Tul laughed.

"Fantastic! Come, child!"

He lumbered off into the dark mists. Snowfur hesitated, but then trotted after him. Then she noticed dark things moving in the mists.

She ran to Gorak Tul in alarm. "Sir! There are things! Dark things!"

The Drust turned to her in response of her raised voice. Snowfur pointed to one of the dark things. Gorak Tul planted his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. Those are friends and family! They are merely shy. You will meet them eventually."

Snowfur did not like the sound of that and doubted the dark things were any sort of friendly. They reminded her of Adalger, who was not friendly at all.

Gorak Tul continued to lead the girl through the forest. As they walked, the forest started to change. The mist cleared. The trees stopped bleeding and smaller plants started to sprout near the bases of the trees. Leaves started growing on the trees. Grass covered the dark soil.

The clearing Gorak Tul led Snowfur to was similar to the one Grendel had brought her to. A giant roughly carved stone table stood in the middle of the clearing. There were no seats for Snowfur, but Gorak Tul seemed to realize the table was too large for the small child. He went over to a boulder and ripped it out from the earth.

"Forgive me. You are smaller than expected," Gorak Tul said. He dumped the boulder at the right side, near the head of the table. He then waved elegantly for her to sit down.

Snowfur came over and climbed up the boulder. Then she took in all the food that the table held.

An entire roasted carcass sat in the middle of the table. All around it was various kinds of vegetables. Some Snowfur could recognized. She had eaten turnips and cabbage before but there were round red turnip like things as well as rounded beans with black spots all over them. There were a lot of green leaf like things as well as the mushrooms that Grendel had fed Snowfur earlier. Berries of all kinds were neatly and delicately piled up in small pyramids. Gorak Tul thumped to the ground and crossed his legs. He grabbed a wooden bowl of bread and planted half a loaf in front of the girl.

"Go on. Enjoy the food!"

Snowfur did not need to be told twice. She grabbed everything she could get her hands on. She had never seen so much food in her life. Gorak Tul obliged her whenever she asked what something was. The green leaves were all sorts of different things. Plaintains, mustard, lamb's quarters, and dock. The tea he poured for her came from something called stinging nettles, but Snowfur didn't feel any sort of stinging. Parsnips and carrots were glazed with a generous amount of honey. Snowfur spread bilberry jam all over her bread and stuffed it into her mouth.

By the time Snowfur was finished, there was still an enormous amount of food. She wanted to eat more but there was just too much. She grew drowsy and let out a yawn.

"Well now that you are fed it is time for bed. You have had a rough day haven't you?" Gorak Tul asked. Snowfur nodded sleepily.

Gorak Tul looked to the tree line and nodded. Snowfur looked back toward where he was looking. A hooded figure stood there. Fear seized Snowfur but Gorak Tul comforted her.

"This is one of my many servants. She will escort you to a nice place to sleep."

The woman lifted her hood back and to all appearances looked like a normal human woman to Snowfur's eyes. She reached out her hand.

"I am named Lilith. What is your name sweetheart?"

Snowfur opened her mouth but Gorak Tul interrupted.

"Her name is Kalma. Kalma Tul. Take care of her, Sister Lilith."

Sister Lilith took Snowfur's arm gently. "Yes, Master. Come little Kalma."

Snowfur felt far more comfortable with Lilith than with Adalger and happily followed her. She tried to speak but Lilith ignored her. The woman led Snowfur through the forest to a crude house made out of large stones. A small trail of smoke rose wispily from a hole in the roof. Lilith opened the door and led her in. The one room hut was simple. A fire in one place with a rough bed with a straw mattress.

"Is this sufficient?" Lilith asked. Snowfur did not bother answering. She proceeded to collapse onto the straw mattress.


End file.
